Frosted Glass
by AnimeFlowerGirl
Summary: The first time they met, Rina didn't see him. She knew he was there, he made his presence obvious but she never saw him. She knew he was there when snowballs began flying out of nowhere and hitting the children in her neighborhood and when she stared at her window, watching it frost just enough for him to write. That's when she knew it wasn't her imagination.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

Rina Snowe was a young girl with shoulder length blonde hair and large pale green eyes. She was small for her age and didn't seem to mind one bit for she never wanted to grow up. The people around her village tended to call her the female _Peter Pan _with the way she never seemed to realize that she was no longer a child by their standards_. _She wore clothes that were two sizes too big and kept all her stuffed toys and childhood movies in plain sight in her room, proud that she never got bored of them. Rina wasn't like her classmates who found the need to hide their favorite teddy bear or blanket.

For Rina, everything was a brand new adventure. Whenever she left the house, she was quick to notice even the smallest of differences. Those small differences, no matter how insignificant, always brought a smile to her face as she marveled at them. Rina was easily amused and she never thought it was a bad thing. She stared at everything with childlike wonder and still believed in things that most people her age had ceased to even think about it. It was just who she was and she found no problem with that.

"Oh, come on, Rina!" Lyndi, Rina's good friend, rolled her eyes, folding the piece of paper in her hands.

School had ended five minutes ago and Lyndi was wondering why Rina had yet to exit the building. When she finally lost her patience, she pushed past the school's front doors and went to the first place she thought, Rina's classroom. Lucky for Lyndi, Rina was in fact in her classroom, hunched over her desk, jotting things down on a piece of paper. Curious, Lyndi snatched the paper, and ignoring Rina's protests, read it.

"You can't honestly still believe in Santa Clause! You've _got _to be joking!"

"What's there to joke about?" Rina huffed, standing up from her seat and took her letter back. "It's never too early to write to Santa what you want for Christmas."

"First," Lyndi frowned, holding up her pointer finger, "It _is _too early to be writing your letter to Santa. Easter is just around the corner. Second," Lyndi held up another finger. "Santa doesn't exist."

"Then who puts all those presents under the tree and eats your cookies?" Rina raised her brow, pouting. "They just don't vanish into thin air. Someone had to eat them."

"Yeah, your father," Lyndi deadpanned. "Don't tell me, you still believe in the Easter Bunny and the Tooth fairy too?"

Rina's brows knitted together as she pocketed her letter, placed her blue beanie on her head and slung her backpack over her shoulder. She looked ready to face a storm with her oversized jumper, knee length skirt, black tights and boots.

"Of course I do," Rina said, already making her way to the door. Lyndi quickly followed. "You said it yourself, Easter is right around the corner. The Easter Bunny must be pretty busy, decorating all those eggs to hide."

Lyndi sighed and placed her hand on Rina's shoulder, stopping her. "Honestly, Rina. I can accept you playing with your stuffed toys and watching all those childish movies but _this? _This has gone too far," Lyndi twisted Rina in order for the small blonde to face her and for Lyndi to be able to place her hands on both of Rina's shoulders.

"Listen very closely, Rina. You need to take in what I'm going to say. If you don't, you're never going to be taken seriously and everyone will laugh at you. I'm doing this because I'm your best friend and I care," Lyndi took a breath and looked Rina dead in the eye. "Santa Clause is just your father sneaking around at night, putting all your gifts under the tree and eating the cookies you leave out before the rats get to it. The Tooth fairy is your mother coming into your room when you're fast asleep and taking that sweet little baby tooth from under your pillow and replacing it with some cash. Look through her drawers. You'd probably see a little box filled with your baby teeth. Heck, you might find your Santa letters there too."

"Lyndi – " Rina began, getting uncomfortable with what her friend was saying.

"The Easter Bunny is just a mascot and it's really your relatives hiding all those eggs. Wonder why they tell you and your cousins to go inside for like ten minutes? They're hiding those eggs while you guys wait to go out with your baskets. What else is there? Oh! The Sandman is fake and the Boogeyman is probably some ratted sweated of yours that got kicked under your bed and collected dust."

"Are you finished?" Rina asked, frowning deeply at her friend. Lyndi was one of the "cool" kids in their school and was the kind who couldn't wait to grow up. In fact, Lyndi was one of the first people in their grade who stopped believing in Santa Clause and the like and tried her very best to convince others to stop believing as well. Rina was one of the rare few that refused to listen and it annoyed her greatly that Lyndi continued to try and "convert" her.

"Unless you believe in more idiotic things, I've said what I had to say," Lyndi released her hold. "So, do you get what I'm saying? All those things you believe in are just your parents trying to keep your dream alive. They're all pretty stupid when you think about it."

"Whatever. Let's just get out of here. A teacher might catch us," The blonde huffed, turning, and briskly made her way towards the school's door, pushing it open only to be greeted by a cold gush of wind. Her nose immediately felt numb and a shiver ran down her spine. Rina looked out and her pale eyes widened and her frown was instantly replaced by a large grin. She watched as children ran around throwing snowballs at each other, building snowmen and creating snow angels on the ground.

"Come on, Lyndi!" Rina called back, already forgetting that she was annoyed with her friend. "You're going to miss out on all the fun! Let's build a snowman!"

"What's the rush?" Lyndi asked, taking her time in approaching Rina. "The snow isn't going to leave anytime soon."

Rina ignored Lyndi's comment as she grabbed hold of her hand. "Come on! I want to join the snowball fight!"

"I honestly don't see the fun in that game. It's pointless. You're just throwing balls of frozen water at each other."

"You want to make a snowman then?" Rina asked, not wanting to back down from playing in the snow. After all, it _was _practically her name.

"Childish."

"Snow Angel?"

"I can't believe you just asked that, Rina. Do you _know _how much this outfit costs? I'm not going to get it wet."

Rina threw her hands up in the air in exasperation and stomped her foot. "Gee, Lyndi, then what do you plan for us to do with this wonderful snow? Just walk on it?"

"Preferably," Lyndi said, already making her way down the steps and the moment her boots made contact with the snow, creating a _squish _sort of sound, she grimaced. "Well? Are you coming?" She asked, looking back at Rina who was now pouting her lips.

"I want to play with the snow," Rina mumbled, stomping down the steps. When her shoe sunk into the snow, an amused smile graced her lips. "Cool."

"It's _just _snow, Rina. Nothing special," Lyndi rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to continue when something cold and hard hit her at the back of her head, exploding and scattering all over her body.

Lyndi's eyes widened and her mouth hung agape as she stared straight at Rina who was just as shocked as she was. Rina; however, recovered from her shock and a small smile graced her lips as she tried her best to suppress her laugh. Lyndi, on the other hand, wasn't amused. The girl wiped the remaining snow particles off her neck and shoulders and glared at Rina's joyous expression before turning around to see several kids running around, throwing snowballs at each other.

"HEY!" Lyndi bellowed, catching the children's attention. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE THROWING THOSE THINGS!"

The children looked at her with confusion, the snowballs in their hands slowly losing their shape. They glanced over to Rina, someone who they often had snowball fights with, who just shrugged. "What are you talking about?" One of the kids was brave enough to ask.

"What do you mean what am I talking about?" Lyndi folded her arms across her chest. "One of your stupid balls hit me!"

"So?" Another said, wondering why Lyndi was making such a big deal out of nothing. It was snow. Snow would have hit her anyway even if it weren't from a snowball. Snow was falling from the sky! She couldn't avoid it until she got indoors.

"So… _So…. _SO?!" Lyndi nearly exploded before Rina jumped in and covered Lyndi's mouth with her hands, grinning sheepishly at the kids.

"Okay, Lyndi, it was an accident. I'm sure they won't do it again," Rina chuckled, sending the children a look. They stood a little straighter and when Lyndi relaxed, Rina sent them a wink making them giggle under their breaths.

"Whatever," Lyndi huffed, giving the kids one last glare before turning her backs at them. "You want to stop by my house? We can watch that new Vampire movie."

"You want me to stop believing in the Tooth fairy and yet you want me to watch Vampires? You believe in them just as much as I believe in Santa Clause!" Rina laughed, shaking her head and kicked a pile of snow out of her way. A gust of wind pushed her forward. "Whoa," Rina muttered, glancing back. Where did _that _come from?

"There's a better chance of meeting a Vampire on the streets than the Easter Bunny," Lyndi shrugged before laughing at the disbelieving look Rina was giving her. "Okay, okay but let's face it. Vampires are H-O-T – _HOT_!"

Rina rolled her eyes at her friend as she stuffed her hands deep into her pockets. It seemed to have gotten colder but when she glanced at Lyndi, the girl seemed to have no problem with the dropping temperature. When Rina was about to make a comment about it, the sudden cold feeling disappeared.

"So do you want to come over?"

"I can't. I'm heading over to Jamie's. I promised him I'll teach him some coloring techniques," Rina said with a soft smile. Jamie was her neighbor and he was such a sweetheart. "He's really getting good with his art skills."

Lyndi stopped walking for a while and furrowed her brows. "Jamie? The kid who goes on and on about…." She trailed off, her eyes widening with realization. "No wonder you still believe in that nonsense! You hang out with that kid too much, Rina. It's unhealthy."

"It's not unhealthy. It's fun," Rina frowned. "And he's a cool kid."

"If you want fun, you should spend more time with me and the girls instead of Jamie and his bratty bunch," Lyndi said with a matter of fact tone.

"Your definition of fun and _my _definition of fun are very different, Lyndi," Rina laughed, brushing off her friend's comment. She was used to Lyndi disapproving of the people she hung out with. In Rina opinion, hanging out with Jamie and his friends was much more fun that having sleepovers and gushing over the guys in their school. "Anyway, I'll call you later!"

Rina left Lyndi after giving her quick hug. She jumped over a pile of snow and dashed towards Jamie's house. She was just about to turn a corner when she heard Lyndi yell out angrily. Apparently another snowball had hit her and she had no idea who it was who threw it. Rina let out a laugh and continued on her way.

* * *

**Hi! I just watched Rise of the Guardians yesterday and I just have to say that I fell in love. I want to watch it all over again but my parents won't let me :(**

**Anyway, this is the first chapter of many!**

**Please don't be shy and leave a review!**

**It would be much appreciated.**

**Thanks for taking the time to check out my fic.**

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter.**

**I only own what I own.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

Growing up, Rina's parents always told her stories about Santa Clause, the Tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman and the like. Every night, when she was tucked into bed, her mother would ask her to pick a book out of their enormous bookshelf and she would read it to her until she fell asleep.

That was Rina's favorite part of the day. Being told stories about wonderful people who brought joy to children around the world. She loved how Santa Clause knew who was naughty and who was nice. She loved that he even delivered the presents himself, jumping into one chimney after another and had to be as quiet as a mouse in every house he visited.

The Tooth fairy was a personal favorite of Rina because she was amazed that she never woke up when the Tooth fairy would reach under her pillow and take her tooth. Rina would always try her best to stay up late, whether it was Christmas Eve or when she lost a tooth, in order to catch them in the act but sleep always hit her no matter how hard she tried.

That's how Rina knew the Sandman was real. How else would she have fallen asleep even after all the sugar she had eaten? Surely it was his doing.

Now the Easter Bunny was another story. Rina took pride in the fact that she would always be able to find something different in everything so whenever Easter came along, Rina believed she would be an expert in finding those eggs. After all, she _would _be able to see something different in the garden with colorful eggs lying around.

Unfortunately for her, the Easter Bunny was good at his job. Fortunately, when she found the eggs, they were worth the trouble.

Since Rina was never able to catch sight of any of the people in those storybooks, she would have thought she would stop believing long ago but no, Rina continued to believe in them. Why? Because it just made her that much happier to be able to believe in something that brought nothing but good. Why would she stop believing in someone who gave her gifts every year or rewarded her when she lost the tooth and made her run around in circles trying to find eggs or gave her the best dreams she ever had?

It just made sense to Rina to continue believing in them even with everyone telling her not to.

* * *

Rina sat quietly on Jamie's bedroom floor as she watched the boy color in between the lines of his latest artwork. Before Rina dropped by his house, she quickly passed by hers to pick up her trusty colored pencils and outlining pens. When she rang the doorbell of Jamie's house, the door immediately swung open and Jamie excitedly jumped into Rina's arms, greeting her with a bear hug before dragging her into his room. Sophie even joined them, doodling on her own sheet of paper, before the little tot drifted into a nap.

"Try shading that area a little darker, Jamie," Rina pointed at his paper, sending him a small smile. "You know, like a shadow."

"Right!" Jamie said, grinning before he focused his attention back to his work, tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration. Rina laughed under her breath, standing up from the floor, bringing Sophie up with her. The little girl immediately clung to Rina and the older of the two found it hard to pry the tot off when she reached Jamie's bed. Sophie had an iron grip.

"C – Come on, baby," Rina mumbled, putting Sophie on the bed only to have the girl grab hold of her once more. "The bed is much more comfortable than the floor."

"Maybe she finds you comfier than the bed," Jamie said, looking up from his paper to send Rina a smirk. Rina rolled her eyes.

"I'm just skin and bones – Oh and all jumper," She stated, putting Sophie back on the bed and quickly grabbed one of Jamie's pillows for Sophie to grab onto instead of her jumper. The tot brought the pillow into her arms and hugged it tightly to her chest. Rina let out a sigh of relief. "Must be nice being a kid," Rina smiled softly, watching the blanket rise and fall with every breath Sophie took.

"What are you talking about?" Jamie asked, standing up from the floor, artwork in hand. "You still are a kid."

"I'm older than you," Rina pointed out with a frown. She never liked admitting that she was older than someone. She was in fact the youngest in her class and in her family. Rina wasn't used to being _older. _

"So? That doesn't make you an adult," Jamie shrugged, not seeing Rina's frown, sitting down on his bed. "And you're not _that _much older than me," he added.

Rina mimicked Jamie's shrug and joined him on his bed, lying back to lie down beside Sophie. She combed her fingers through Sophie's messy blonde locks. "Still," Rina sighed, untangling the knots in Sophie's hair. "I don't even know why I'm talking about this."

"Yeah. You're as immature as me and the guys," Jamie grinned, dodging the rabbit plush toy Rina threw at him. He was lucky that Rina didn't pull Sophie's hair with how fast she moved. It would be hell for both of them if Sophie woke up due to her hair being yanked. "You never had a problem acting – well, _being _a kid before. Why think about aging? It's a horrible thought, really."

"I don't know. I guess it's because of what Lyndi said," Rina knitted her brows together, sitting back up to look Jamie in the eye. Jamie frowned.

"Lyndi? The Non-believer?" He asked, his expression matching Rina's.

"Do we call her that?" Rina asked, a small smile tugging on her lips.

"Sometimes," Jamie smirked, his cheeks turning red. "I don't really have a problem with people not believing in Santa Clause or whatever. It's their choice but with Lyndi. I mean… well… she… how do I put this? Lyndi is really _determined_ to make everyone just stop believing. It gets really annoying sometimes. Why does she care if you get excited about getting presents under the Christmas tree or losing a tooth?"

"She's just one of those kids who can't wait to grow up," Rina said, trying to sound like she was defending Lyndi. She really had no problem with Lyndi wanting to grow up so bad, but she saw what Jamie was trying to say. Even she got annoyed with Lyndi sometimes. "And you should stop calling her that behind her back. Actually, don't call anyone names behind their back or in front of them when it's as mean as that. Santa might put you on his naughty list," She added, attempting to be a good influence on Jamie.

Jamie rolled his eyes playfully at Rina's attempt before saying, "What does growing up have to do with anything? My mother even believes in _Jack Frost_!"

Rina's brows shot up and she looked at Jamie curiously. "Jack Frost? Who's he?" The name was familiar but Rina couldn't place her finger on it. Was he mentioned in one of the books her parents used to read to her? Maybe he was some legendary superhero they discussed in class at one point.

"I'm not really sure, to be honest. Mom said it was just an expression, but still," Jamie looked out his window in thought before grinning when he saw the frost forming on the glass. He looked back at Rina and the girl's eyes widened when she saw the wide grin on his face. "Enough about Lyndi. Tell me, has he come back yet?"

"He?" Rina asked, her brows knitting together and a small frown formed on her lips. Who was Jamie talking about? Surely he knew the only boys she hung out with were he and his friends. She was too much of a "baby" for the boys her age to give her the time of day (not like she minded) and her father would kill absolutely any male species that came to their doorstep looking for her. Jamie and his friends were the only exception seeing as they were just kids and had no malicious intentions.

"You know… _him…_the one you talk to at night?"

"Oh! _Him!_" Rina exclaimed, snapping her fingers in realization. Sophie mumbled a soft "Quiet" before drifting back to sleep. Rina chuckled softly. "He came back last night," Rina continued in a hushed tone, scared that someone other than Jamie might hear what she was saying.

"He did?" Jamie asked, eyes twinkling with excitement. "What happened?"

"Nothing new. He came by and I was practically freezing to death!" Rina grinned, remembering that when she scrambled out of bed due to his arrival, she pulled on her favorite jumper and still had to wrap her blanket around herself. "But it was so worth it. I just sat by my window and we talked until morning. I got to say, not very good for me since I was drifting in and out of sleep in History class!"

"You guys actually _talked_?" Jamie's mouth dropped.

"You know what I mean, Jamie! He's invisible and I've never heard his voice before," Rina sighed, her shoulders dropping.

Jamie frowned. "I know that this has been going on a for a long time and I completely believe everything you're saying but… how do you know…?"

"How do I know if he's really there? If he's real?" Rina completed Jamie's sentence with a hopeful look in her eyes.

Jamie nodded.

"The window, Jamie. It's all on my window. When he comes, my window is decorated with this frost. I know it's his because the frost comes right from the middle and spreads out like vines. Regular frost doesn't do that. Nothing does that, in fact! It's an absolutely beautiful thing to watch and we write on the frost. Well, him more than me. I ask the questions and he answers them." Rina laughed softly under her breath, her features softening when she remembered all their conversations. "It's just short messages but I know it's real because the smudges are still there in the morning. I'm not imagining things, Jamie. It's real. _He's _real!"

* * *

**Hello! Here's Chapter 2 of Frosted Glass!**

**I hope you enjoyed reading it and I would love to hear what you all thought of it :)**

**Reviews are always welcomed.**

**Also, thanks so much for everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited this fic. It really means a lot and it encourages me to write more!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter :)**

**I only own what I own.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

The sun had already set by the time Rina left the Bennett's house. She had planned to leave earlier but Jamie's mother had made an amazing dinner and Rina just couldn't say no to her invitation. It also didn't hurt that Jamie and Sophie refused to let her leave before having dessert – which was her favorite, warm apple pie. Sophie also wanted Rina to tuck her in and read her a bedtime story and Rina was glad to, loving that Sophie was always eager to listen.

Entering her house, Rina saw that her parents were not yet home. Her father was off on a business trip and her mother was probably still working late. The girl had no siblings or pets so it was just her alone for the night. Rina frowned briefly, closing the door behind her and locking it. Apparently it was a good idea that she decided to stay over at the Bennett's. If she didn't, she would have gone to bed without dinner. After all, she didn't know how to cook.

Rina scrambled up the staircase and entered her room. Turning on the lights, she was immediately greeted by her light blue and white walls, which were painted in such a way to make it look like it was snowing. The "snow" was even pilling up on the ground. Her queen-sized bed was nearly covered with all her stuffed toys and there was even an entire shelf filled with her other toys along with her favorite childhood storybooks and several books directed towards her current age group. Next to her television was a stack of movies from when she was a kid and once again several latest ones. Attached to her ceiling was a mobile that had snowflakes dangling from it. When Rina would lie down, she would watch the snowflakes spin over her until she drifted off to sleep.

"Now where can I put Jamie's drawing?" Rina asked herself, approaching her favorite part of her room – her wall of artwork. When she found out she had talent in the arts, she begged her parents to cork her entire wall so she would be able to post all her drawings, awards, posters and the like. It took a lot of begging, promises of good grades and pouting until Rina found her wall newly corked on Christmas Day.

"Aha! There's still space!" Rina cheered, picking up four thumbtacks from a box that was placed on her study table and carefully posted Jamie's artwork on her wall. A small smile found its way onto her lips and she felt her heart swell with pride.

The drawing was the two of them out in the snow building a snowman together. She admired the amount of detail put in making the snow really look like snow and the shading he did didn't look too bad either. It was absolutely breathtaking especially coming from a boy his age.

The girl took a step away from her wall and admired everything that was posted. There she had Jamie's artworks, Sophie's doodles, several of her own and some award certificates she got from the art contests she joined in school. Her father always said she was lucky for many reasons whenever he visited her room and admired her wall with her.

First, he always said with a soft smile, she was lucky to be born because the doctor had told her parents that they might have some difficulties conceiving a child. "You're a miracle," he would tell her, ruffling her hair to annoy her. Second, her father said she was lucky to have inherited her mother's looks seeing as Mrs. Snowe was a breathtakingly beautiful woman. Third, she was lucky to have inherited her father's sense of humor and fun. Fourth, she was lucky to have stayed intact with her childhood since most kids her age seemed to have abandoned it. Finally, she was lucky to have been born with the talent of drawing since no one in her family was able to do that.

Rina, her parents always said, was lucky.

A gentle breeze blew into Rina's room, making her papers rustle and sending a shiver down the girl's spine. Rina pouted her lips and glanced over to her window, watching the curtains blow gently. She furrowed her brows and pulled her window down, just leaving an inch open so that her room would still be cold but not _too _cold. Shrugging off her jumper and kicking off her boots, Rina made her way towards her cabinet to pull out her pajamas. Since her parents weren't coming home anytime soon, the girl decided she would hit they hay earlier than usual. That way, if her invisible friend came to visit, she would have already gotten some sleep.

* * *

Rina's brows knitted together and she let out a soft sneeze, bringing her hand to her nose to rub it. When she felt the tip of her nose, she was surprised to find out that it was numb with cold. She sleepily brought her blanket further up, almost fully covering her head, and she brought her legs nearer to her body, almost in a fetal position. She reached out to one of her pillows and hugged it closely to her body, ready to drift back to sleep when her pale green eyes shot open and she scrambled out of her bed in a rush. Her feet got tangled up in the blankets and she fell to her floor with an ungraceful _thump! _Rina blushed from her stumble and got up from the floor, dragging her blanket with her, and approached her window, sitting down on the sofa that was placed right in front of it. She kneeled down on the cushions and grinned wildly when she saw a familiar frost forming on the window.

"Hi," Rina greeted the frost with a soft voice, almost as if she was scared that someone would hear her even though it was the dead of night and her parents weren't home. Talking to this boy was a secret she only shared with Jamie and she liked to keep it that way. "I'm glad you came back," she added.

Rina watched in awe as the frost on her glass began to form words – her invisible friend writing them down with his finger.

_Hi. _The frost read. _Nice hair, by the way._

"Shut up," Rina frowned; bringing her hands up to her blonde locks and attempted to flatten it down. She was known for having the worst bedhead hair in the world. It was the main reason why she didn't go to too many sleepovers.

Her invisible friend's comment disappeared, her window frosting again, and Rina waited for her friend to write once more. She wrapped her blanket tightly around her small frame and when she breathed out, a small fog escaped her lips. She smiled at the fog before looking back at her window.

_You didn't play snowball today. _

"I know, I'm sorry," Rina sent the window an apologetic smile, hoping that she sent her smile the right direction and friend saw it. It was really difficult talking to someone you couldn't see or hear. "Lyndi thought playing in the snow was childish and stupid. She wanted to watch Vampire movies instead so I told her I was going to hang out with Jamie."

_I don't like Lyndi. _

Came the immediate response from her friend.

Rina rolled her eyes. She as so used to hearing that, that she no longer felt offended when someone didn't like her friend. She just learned to let it go. "Not many people do," She said, watching the message disappear like the previous ones.

_She keeps bossing you around._

Rina read the message before another one replaced it.

_Who is she to tell you who or what you should believe in?_

"Don't let her get to you. She probably doesn't believe in the Tooth Fairy because whenever she had a loose tooth, she immediately went to the dentist and her mother gave her what she wanted right away. She never experienced putting her tooth under her pillow and waking up to see it replaced by a coin," Rina shrugged and looked out the window in thought. "She's also sour because she never got presents from Santa too, now that I think about it."

_Never got presents from North?_

Rina assumed "North" meant Santa Clause seeing as he lived in the North Pole.

"Never," Rina tried her best not to laugh under her breath. It wasn't a laughing matter but deep inside, she found it just as amusing as she found everything else. "I guess she's perpetually on the Naughty list."

_That doesn't surprise me. _Her friend wrote. _What about you? Are you Naughty or Nice?_

"Like you need to ask!" Rina scoffed, laughing. "I'm Nice of course!" Rina grinned, placing her hands together in a prayer position and pretended to be an angel to show how nice she was. "I _do _get what I want for Christmas after all," She added proudly, remembering the Christmas letter she was writing in her classroom. "What about you?"

_What do you think?_

Even though she couldn't see him, she swore he was smirking at her. It seemed so like him to do so.

"Well, seeing as _you _threw those snowballs at Lyndi, I'm assuming you're beyond Naughty," Rina smirked, watching the frost cover her friend's message. "Don't think I don't know. That's the only way I know you're around! When snowballs come flying out of nowhere!" The girl then gasped, her brows shooting up and her eyes widening. "You were even walking with us! You sneak! That's why it suddenly got colder!"

If Rina could see him, she guessed he was laughing at her right now. She briefly wondered what his laugh sounded like before he began writing on the window again.

_North, Tooth, Sandy and the Easter Kangaroo are all real, you know._

"Of course I do," Rina said, smiling. He changed the topic, not wanting to admit that he in fact threw the snowballs and walked alongside her. He didn't need to admit it, Rina already knew. She squinted at what he wrote. "Tooth" obviously meant the Tooth Fairy and "Sandy" probably meant the Sandman.

"Wait. The Easter _Kangaroo? _Don't you mean 'Bunny'?"

_Call him what you like._

The message faded and was soon replaced by; _I personally like Kangaroo or Cottontail._

"I'm guessing you aren't too friendly with the Easter Bunny," Rina chuckled, watching the words disappear. "Too bad for you. Easter is coming up."

_Not if I have anything to do about it._

Rina gasped. "You _are _Naughty! You can't stop Easter!" The girl folded her arms across her chest and sent the window a serious and scolding look. She really hoped that her friend was in her line of vision or else she would be really embarrassed for looking so intently at the window. "Who _are _you anyway? How do you know Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and the Easter _Bunny_?"

The window was frosted for a long time and Rina wondered if she had crossed beyond an unsaid boundary. Her features softened and her brows knitted together. Did her friend leave her? Did she say something out of line? Did she somehow offend him? Opening her mouth, Rina was just about to take back what she had asked when her friend began writing on the frost once again.

_My name is _

But her friend never got to finish what he was writing for her bedroom door opened and in came her mother, stressed out from work. Mrs. Snowe was typically very sweet and caring but when she came home stressed, she tended to be a nightmare. Easily irritated and made a big deal out of nothing. It was much worse when she came home to see Rina awake when she was supposed to be asleep. After all, she had gotten too many calls from her teachers complaining that her child has been dozing off in class.

"Rina Licia Snowe!" Her mother said, voice hard. The mentioning of a middle name always meant trouble. "What are you still doing up? You have school tomorrow!"

"Mother, I –" Rina scrambled off her seat and glanced back at her window. Her friend's message disappeared and was once again replaced by frost. The wind blowing through the small inch she left open wasn't as cold as before and she realized her friend had left the moment her mother arrived. Rina's shoulders sank and she looked back to her mother. "I… I couldn't sleep," She picked up her blanket and moved to her bed.

"Well, you shouldn't be sitting beside that window of yours," Mrs. Snowe sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "That's not going to help you sleep."

"Sorry," Rina sank into her bed and pulled her blanket up. "Good night."

Rina listened to her mother walking towards her window and she heard the soft _click _of her window being closed and locked. "Good night, baby," Mrs. Snowe sighed, leaving her daughter's room.

* * *

"Good Morning, Rina," Lyndi greeted the blonde upon approaching the girl's classroom. Rina looked away from the chalkboard, having doodled Easter eggs all over it – obviously excited for Easter, and sent her best friend a smile. She returned the chalk she was using and patted her hands on her skirt, effectively leaving fingerprints on her skirt. Lyndi wrinkled her nose.

"Morning, Lyndi!" Rina chirped, exiting her classroom to join Lyndi in the hall. Rina clasped her hands behind her back and rolled on the balls of her feet, a small smile gracing her lips.

"What's got you so happy?" Lyndi asked, raising her brow at her friend, a suspicious smirk on her lips. Rina was a morning person, that was a given, but it was rare to see her _this _happy in the morning. Something was up.

"What? Nothing!" Rina laughed, knowing that even if she told Lyndi the truth, she wouldn't believe her. Worse, she would tell Rina that she was crazy and was imagining things. The truth was that when Rina woke up, she was immediately greeted by a frosted message on her window from her invisible friend.

"I'll pretend I believe you," Lyndi said, glancing at Rina's outfit with a frown on her lips. "What in the world are you wearing?"

"Oh, this old thing?" Rina tugged the hem of her jumper and grinned. It was a light blue jumper and pastel colored eggs and flowers decorated it. "It's my lucky Easter egg hunting jumper! Easter is just around the corner, remember?"

"How can I forget?" Lyndi sighed. It was all Rina seemed to think about with her mindless doodles and how she looked under bushes and behind trash bins in advance, trying to see if the Easter Bunny had already begun hiding his eggs. "Didn't I just tell you that the Easter Bunny isn't real, Rina? When will you grow up?"

Rina ignored Lyndi's comment and shrugged her shoulders. "I like Easter Egg Hunting. The candy is delicious. Besides, don't you love the spring?" She tried redirection the conversation, not wanting to get lectured by her friend again.

"Ah, Spring! Glad you brought it up, Rina," Lyndi hooked her arms with the girl and began leading her down the hall, no real direction in mind. "I bought this whole new wardrobe for spring and I would just _love_ to model the outfits for you!" Lyndi had this dreamy sort of voice as she imagined all her new dresses, skirts, blouses and shorts in her closet. And don't forget the shoes!

"Oh, but don't worry, Rina, dear! You can borrow them if you like and you can have my old spring wardrobe. I'm sure they'll fit you."

"Thanks, Lyndi. That's nice of you," Rina smiled even thought fashion wasn't really her interest. It was better to smile and do what Lyndi said rather than fight when it came to petty things like a new wardrobe or earrings. "But I wouldn't mind more snow, really."

"That's because you're in love with the stuff, Rina," Lyndi rolled her eyes. "Winter is coming to an end, spring is near and it's time to switch up our wardrobe! Surely that's more interesting than building a stupid snowman."

"I still wouldn't mind another Snow Day," Rina grinned, feeling the air around her get a little colder.

* * *

**And here's Chapter Three!**

**Hope you guys like it!**

**Please tell what you thought in the reviews!**

**I really want to hear from you guys! :)**

**Please excuse any typos, I'm working on that and yeah...**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**I only own what I own.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

"Rina, I'm sorry for exploding last night," Mrs. Snowe apologized to her daughter, setting down Rina's breakfast on her table before taking a seat herself. It was quite early in the morning and Rina had woken up to find out that her mother was still at home and took it upon herself to cook all of Rina's favorite for breakfast. Rina, though not really knowing why her mother took the trouble, didn't question it. She was just happy to have a decent breakfast.

"It's okay," Rina said, already digging in. "You're stressed. I understand."

"It's still not an excuse for my behavior," Mrs. Snow sighed, sitting down in front of Rina and folded her arms on the table. "It's just that I'm worried about you, Rina. You're always up so late and sometimes when I come check up on you, I hear you talking to yourself. At first I thought you were just mumbling in you sleep but when I come in, you're against your window obviously awake." The woman paused, trying to read her daughter's expression. Rina had put her spoon down on her plate and had her brows were knitted together. "Honey, who are you talking to?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Rina said quietly, pushing her plate away from her. She suddenly lost her appetite.

"Baby, you've never lied to me before, right?" Rina nodded her head. "Then why shouldn't I believe you?"

Rina bit her lip and tried to hold her mother's gaze. She immediately looked down on her hands, glancing at the charm bracelet on her wrist. "Well, it's not something easy to say or explain, really."

"I have time. Rina, please, tell me what's going on."

"You know how I still believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth fairy?" Rina asked her mother, her voice quiet and unsure.

"Yes, used to stay up trying to catch them but the Sandman always gets to you first," Mrs. Snowe smiled at the memory of a young Rina trying her best to keep awake even though it was almost past midnight. "But what does that have to do with you being awake at odd hours? You no longer have baby teeth to hide under your pillow and Christmas is long over."

"Well, I believe a have a new friend," Rina said slowly, meeting her mother's gaze once again. "He's… well, he's invisible."

"Honey, are you sure you aren't imagining things?" Mrs. Snowe said after some time passed. She had waited for her daughter to tell her she was joking and to give her the real reason for her staying up so late but when Rina didn't make any move, she decided to ask the first thing that came to mind. "Maybe you're just dreaming?"

"You said it yourself, mom. I'm wide awake when you come into my room," Rina frowned, already expecting her mother to ask such a question. "I'm not imagining things. He's real."

"But how do you know?"

"It's the same way I know Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and the Sandman are real," Rina picked up her spoon, her appetite returning. "I believe."

* * *

When Jack arrived home after his trip to Russia, he decided to give a gift to the town of Burgess. He remembered Rina's request for a Snow Day and felt like it was his responsibility to give in to her request. Spring was almost here but that didn't mean there wasn't any more time for a Snow Day.

"SNOW DAY!" Jack jumped off his windy ride and landed in the town's center. He didn't waste any time in zooming through the streets, forcing people to wrap themselves tighter in their jackets. He grinned at his work, surveying everyone in the town when he came across a girl with a head of carefully fixed ginger hair and a very expensive looking outfit.

A wicked grin formed on Jack's lips and he made it a point to send an extra strong gust of wind towards her. He laughed loudly when the owner of the ginger hair screeched in anger, holding her skirt down and at the same time flattening her hair. She glared at the sky and instead of gracefully walking down the street like she was previously doing; she ended up stomping, not caring if she was destroying her new high-heeled boots.

The Winter Spirit didn't feel too bad for embarrassing and annoying the girl because he knew it was Lyndi. Only Lyndi would spend hours pinning up her hair, applying make up and wearing unnecessarily stylish clothing on a Snow Day when she didn't even have anywhere special to go. Jack smirked when he saw Lyndi fuming as she turned a corner, after he heard the way she talked to Rina the day before, he felt like she deserved it. Then again, he would have done it even if he didn't have a reason.

Turning his attention away from Lyndi, Jack caught sight of Jamie and Rina walking home. Grinning, Jack directed his wind towards them and the wind ripped Jamie's book out of his hands, making it land several feet away from the two. Jack sped towards the book, catching sight of the title.

"_They're Out There – Mysteries, Mythical Creatures, and Unexplained Phenomena"_

Jamie and Rina ran after the book, Rina laughing because for some odd reason she found a book flying out of Jamie's hands to be very funny. It also helped that Jamie looked absolutely frazzled when the book leapt out of his hands. Jack zoomed to Jamie's side when the boy picked up his book.

"Huh, that looks interesting. Good book?" Jack asked but neither Jamie nor Rina could see or hear him so they continued walking. Jack frowned briefly, swiftly catching up to them. He floated beside Rina and when the girl ran her hand through her hair, he caught sight of the shimmering bracelet on her wrist.

It held four charms. The first was a red and white candy cane, next was a tooth, the third was a pastel green Easter egg and the final one was a golden cloud. A small smile formed on Jack's lips but he couldn't help but feel a twang of jealousy. It must've been nice being believed in.

Claude and Caleb, twin boys in Jamie's grade, came rushing by. They were pushing each other and laughing as they went. Jack even heard them cheering about the Snow Day.

Jack grinned and said, "You're welcome!" but once again, no one heard or saw him.

"Aren't those your friends, Jamie?" Rina asked, pointing to the twins.

Jamie looked up from his book. "Hey, guys, wait up!" Jamie ran after them, Rina quickly following him. "Are you coming to the egg hunt this Sunday?"

"Yeah, free candy," said Caleb.

"I hope we can find the eggs in all this snow!" added Claude, gesturing to everything around him. The roads, the trees, the bushes – everything was covered with snow!

"But Rina won't have any problem finding those eggs," Caleb continued, smirking at the girl. "She always finds the eggs before any of us!"

"It's crazy how good you are," Claude chuckled. "It's like you're in cahoots with the Easter Bunny."

Everyone laughed, even Jack. "Cahoots with Peter Cottontail? That's rich!"

"I'm just lucky," Rina stuck her tongue out at them, blushing.

After Rina's comment, the four friends made a silent agreement to head over to Jamie's house and Jack quietly followed them, listening in on their conversation. Jamie was showing them his book and was talking animatedly about Bigfoot. Caleb and Claude were quickly losing interest and Rina, having already heard about people finding Bigfoot's DNA in Michigan, went over to Sophie who was trying to ride the Bennett's greyhound. She was dressed like a fairy.

"You can't ride her, baby," Rina said quietly, using the nickname she gave Sophie. Her mother always called her that and she soon found herself referring to Sophie as such. "You're just going to fall off!"

"You saw the video too, Claude," Jamie's voice caught Rina's attention. She turned away from Sophie just long enough for the tot to run away from her. She glanced at Sophie's retreating form with a pout. "He's out there."

"That's what you said about aliens," Caleb chuckled.

"And the Easter Bunny," Claude added.

"Hey!" Rina laughed, placing her hands on her hips and attempted to look serious. Well, she was serious but she couldn't fight the grin that was forming on her lips. "The Easter Bunny _is _real. I'm in cahoots with him, remember?"

Jamie nodded his head in agreement, hiding his eye roll, and took his sled from the porch while Caleb and Claude laughed.

"You know we were joking about that, Rina," Claude said, grinning at Rina.

"Still. The Easter Bunny is real."

"Oh, the Easter Bunny is real, all right. Real annoying, real grumpy and _really _full of himself," Jack said, even though no one could hear him. He then grinned when he thought about the face Rina would give him if she ever heard what he had said. She would tell him that for that comment, she wouldn't be surprised if he was on the Naughty list. Then, he guessed, she would laugh.

It was Mrs. Bennett's voice that brought Jack back to the real world. Turning his attention back to Jamie and the rest, he saw that Sophie was now being held in her mother's arms and Mrs. Bennett was talking to Rina.

"Lyndi is looking for you," The woman told the girl. "I think she's waiting by the statue of Thaddeus Burgess."

Jack frowned at the mention of Lyndi's name and he was happy to see that he wasn't the only one displeased. Jamie, Claude and Caleb groaned and Rina shot them a small, sympathetic smile.

"It's probably not that important," Rina said, trying to cheer her friends up. She didn't even have to think twice about heading over to Lyndi. She didn't want to keep her waiting. "I promise I'll catch up with you guys later."

"It's not fair," Caleb furrowed his brows and folded his arms across his chest. Jack nodded his head in agreement and stuck one of his hands into his hoodie's pocket, the other holding onto his staff. "You were with us first!"

"Yeah, Lyndi has other friends she can complain about her broken nail to," Claude added, remembering the time Lyndi begged Rina to accompany her to the girl's bathroom because her nail chipped when she was looking for books in the library. Needless to say, he, his brother and their friends didn't like the interruption especially when Rina was in the middle of telling them a story.

"Just stay with us, Rina," Jamie said, not wanting to lose Rina to Lyndi – the Non believer. He never really knew why Rina would always go back to Lyndi. It wasn't like the girl was particularly nice to her. Every sugar coated thing she said had an underlying insult.

"Listen to them, Rina," Jack backed the boys up even though they would never know that. The Winter Spirit jumped down to Rina's side and she visibly shivered. "Leave Lyndi and come have fun with us instead!"

Rina bit her lip and her brows knitted together when she saw the pleading looks her friends were sending her. Beside her, she heard Mrs. Bennett chuckle.

"I'm sorry, guys," Rina apologized, watching their shoulders sink. "I can't abandon Lyndi. She's my friend and she'll throw a fit if I don't show up."

"So?" Jack muttered, kicking the snow beneath his bare feet.

"I'll hang out with you guys soon, I promise," Rina smiled. "I'm sure whatever Lyndi needs wouldn't take long and I'll make it up to you!"

"Sleepover! Sleepover!" Sophie cheered, making Rina jumped in her place. The little tot had been quiet up until that moment. She looked up at Sophie and the girl reached out to her, making her mother release her hold. Rina immediately took Sophie into her arms and raised her brow at her.

"What was that, baby?" Rina asked, though she heard what Sophie had requested.

"Sleepover!" Sophie repeated, grinning wildly, her messy hair covering most of her face.

"Oh, but I couldn't –"

"Nonsense," Mrs. Bennett interrupted Rina, sending her a smile. "You're always welcome at our place, Rina, you know that. Besides, Sophie really likes it when you tell her bedtime stories."

"Please, Rina?" Jamie pleaded, giving her his best puppy dog pout and eyes. "We'll let you go if you do!"

Rina looked over to Claude and Caleb and the two boys nodded their head, imitating Jamie's pleading look. She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh, okay," She sighed, a grin on her lips. Rina stuck her tongue out at them when they cheered and she handed Sophie back to her mother. "Now I have to go! Lyndi's going to have my head if I let her wait any longer."

The girl bid her friends and Mrs. Bennett goodbye and turned, effectively running right through Jack and made her way out onto the streets and headed towards the center of town where the statue of their founder stood. Jack's brows furrowed and his frown deepened. Placing his hand on torso, he stared out towards the direction Rina ran. Sure, the Winter Spirit was used to people not seeing and hearing him and he did have his share of people running right through him but with Rina it was different.

She was different.

Rina was the only one he was able to talk to. Yes, she did all of the talking but she knew he existed.

But did that mean she believed in him?

Jack wasn't sure. After all, she couldn't even see him.

She didn't even know his name!

Jack turned around and looked at Jamie. He really liked the kid but he had to admit, though not out loud, that he was slightly envious of him. At least Jamie and Rina could communicate like normal people. All Jack had was a frosted window and when winter passes, he would be left with nothing but memories and anticipation for the next time he'll be allowed to bring snow to the world.

Collecting a ball of snow in his hand, he blew on it. It turned a magical shade of blue.

"Sorry, kiddo, but winter is ending and you just took one of my last few nights with Rina," Jack smirked, facing Jamie and aimed. "This has to be done." He then threw the snowball and it made a direct hit.

"Who threw that?"

And the snowball fight began.

* * *

**Hello! Here's chapter four for you all! I hope you didn't wait too long :)**

**Thanks so much for all your lovely reviews and I will try to reply to them all when I find the time.**

**My exams start tomorrow and I have to start focussing on studying. Sad to say that didn't really work today since I was able to make this chapter and I have chapter five ready to be beta-ed before I can post it.**

**Procrastination at its best.**

**Anyway, enough about my life, please tell me what you thought about this chapter!**

**I would really love to hear from you all. It's your reviews that drive me to update!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Sorry for any typos and grammar mistakes.**

**Stay tuned for the next one**

**and **

**I only own what I own :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

Rina clumsily skidded to a halt when she saw Lyndi leaning against the statue of Thaddeus Burgess with a frown on her face. She, Rina, wanted to look cool, running through the streets and into the snow only to stop in such an awesome way that people would look at her in awe and clap when she straightened herself up. Unfortunately for her, Rina wasn't the most graceful of people and while she was running, she stumbled over her own two feet, slipped on ice and when she finally reached Lyndi, her foot dug into some snow, causing her to trip forward.

Needless to say, things didn't go according to Rina's plan.

Lyndi pursed her lips and raised her brow at her friend, watching Rina stand up from the snow, laughing. Even after embarrassing herself, she still found it funny. What was she thinking, acting cool? Regardless of her name, Rina was everything _but _cool. Lyndi squinted her eyes at Rina and studied her appearance. Rina's blonde hair was windswept, some strands standing on their own and her bangs were away from her face, her hat was scrunched up in her hand, and her face was red from her run and her laughing. Lyndi was not pleased with what she saw.

"Sorry, Lyndi," Rina finally breathed out, having caught her breath. She giggled some more to herself before calming down. "Did you wait long?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Yes," Lyndi replied right away, pushing herself off of the statue. Her answer caught Rina off guard and the blonde watched as the ginger folded her arms across her chest. Rina straightened up and stuffed her hat and hands into her hoodie's pocket. She pouted her lips and knitted her brows together.

"Don't give me that face," Lyndi said, her frown deepening. "I've been through a lot today and you being late when I need you the most isn't helping."

"I said I was 'sorry', Lyndi. What else do you want me to say? I just got your message from Mrs. Bennett a few minutes ago. I can't exactly teleport here," Rina said, exasperated. She thought Lyndi really needed her but from the tone of her voice, she could already guess what was going to happen. "And what have you been through? The day just began!"

"Look around you, Rina. It's a Snow Day. Why in the world is it _snowing? _Easter is coming up, we've said this many times and yet I don't see a single sign that spring is near! I'm running out of clothes in my winter wardrobe and this cold isn't doing any favors for my skin. It's absolutely _dreadful _and I need you, my best friend, to be here with me when these things happen! I'm about to breakdown, Rina!" Lyndi exclaimed, her voice near a shriek, stomping her foot into the snow. She glanced down at her furry boots, seeing it turn a darker shade due to the water, and let out a groan. "I HATE SNOW!"

"Well, I'm sorry, Lyndi, but I can't do anything about the snow. It's not going anywhere today," Rina told her honestly, letting out a breath. The snowflakes were still falling from the sky and the fact that the town was still covered in white showed that it would take a few days until the snow left. "Spring is going to come, don't worry. Also, I'm sure your shoes and wardrobe will be fine. It's just a little water."

"It's not _just _water, Rina. Ugh! You don't understand!" Lyndi ran her hand through her ginger hair furiously, trying her best not to create a scene because she didn't want to embarrass herself. "Would you _look _at me? Look at my hair! I spent _hours _on it this morning and this gust of wind came out of nowhere and ruined it. I'm talking bobby pins flying out. The hairspray did nothing to keep it in place and would you look at my clothes? They're so wrinkled and damp and things are just ruined for me! Absolutely ruined!"

Rina didn't know what she had to say to calm Lyndi down. They have been friends for years. They've slept over at each other's houses more times than they could count, shared clothes and secrets and stuck together no matter what. Lyndi often got on people's nerves but Rina could never bring herself to be mad at her friend for too long. There was just too much history between them that Rina couldn't just break it off because Lyndi became a drama queen when they grew older.

Though the two have been friends for so long, Rina always found it hard to comfort Lyndi when she became like this. The best she could do was keep quiet and listen.

"Rina, darling, I'm sorry I yelled," Lyndi apologized when Rina didn't say anything. She ran a hand through her hair and let out a sigh, tapping her foot impatiently on the snow, trying to think of the next thing to say. Rina waited. "You see, I just want to wear this new dress for spring and I just can't wait. You understand, don't you?"

"Of course I do, I'm sure it's very beautiful," Rina said, smiling softly. At least _that _was over.

"It is beautiful," Lyndi agreed, folding her arms across her chest. "I think this is the work of karma."

"Karma?" Rina asked.

"Yes, karma. Surely you believe in karma, Rina. I mean, if you're foolish enough to believe in fairies and mermaids you must believe in karma," Lyndi said in a matter of fact tone, not noticing that her words were coming off as rude. "You see, I started this diet and last night I ate two slices of cake. _Two _slices, Rina. This is karma."

Rina furrowed her brows at Lyndi. "I don't think karma works that way, Lyndi."

"Whatever," Lyndi waved her off. "It still sucks. Anyway, where were you this morning?"

"I was hanging out with Jamie, Claude and Caleb," Rina grinned, already excited to find them and have some fun in the snow. With Lyndi's little episode, she didn't think it was a good idea to invite her to play. "They're really cool kids."

"I should have known!" Lyndi laughed bitterly, shaking her head at Rina. Rina frowned. "You were hanging out Bennett and his brats. No wonder you were late! Rina, _I'm _your best friend. _I _should be a priority. Not Jamie and the hooligans."

"Now, Lyndi, that's not very nice." Rina scolded her friend, her voice low and not an ounce of its usual cheerfulness lacing it. "I didn't even know you would be out today. I thought you would sleep in. I also promised Jamie that I would hang out with him today."

"That doesn't matter. Like I said, we were friends long before Jamie came into the picture. You're not going to toss me aside for a kid who shares the same idiotic beliefs as you, are you?" Lyndi asked, her eyes squinting. She didn't like the tone Rina was using on her. In her opinion, she was just being honest. "Are you really going to throw away all those years of friendship?"

"Lyndi –"

But Rina wasn't able to finished what she was saying for she was interrupted by a familiar scream.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!" Rina heard Jamie shout and when she turned towards his voice, she watched in horror as he rode a ramp that seemed to be made out of ice and was launched into the air. His sled traveled over the statue of Thaddeus Burgess and landed safely in the snow on the other side with a bump and skid.

Rina let out a sigh of relief, her heart having skipped a beat the moment she heard Jamie. She made a move to run towards him, to see if he survived the fall, but was stopped by Lyndi grabbing hold of her wrist.

"Lyndi, I need to see if he's okay," Rina told her friend, tugging on her arm and twisting it. Lyndi's hold tightened.

"You didn't answer my question, Rina," Lyndi said in a low voice, glaring. She didn't want to be ignored. "Are you going to choose me or him?" She jerked her head towards Jamie's direction. Rina followed her gaze and was happy to see that Jamie's friends were already surrounding him and he was indeed alive.

"Please don't make me choose, Lyndi. You both are important to me," Rina said when she turned her attention back to Lyndi. Her wrist was beginning to hurt from Lyndi's grasp. Apparently, she didn't say the right thing for Lyndi threw Rina's arm to her side, making the girl flinch, and stomped off. She gave Rina a lasting look, showing her how much she wasn't happy with her, and stomped off.

Watching her friend walk away from her, Rina felt her heart clench and her lips quiver. Lyndi looked really upset with her now. Sure, Lyndi didn't like the fact that Rina still believed in childish things and never acted her age but Lyndi never stormed off on her. Lyndi would stick around, say what she wanted to say and changed the topic. Now, now Lyndi was truly mad. If she got angry because Rina wouldn't choose between her and Jamie, what more if Lyndi knew about Rina's new friend? She would call her crazy and foolish for choosing someone she couldn't even see over Lyndi, someone she had known since they were practically both in diapers.

"I really wish you were here right now…." Rina said quietly, her mind turning to her invisible friend. He would be able to comfort her. Even though she couldn't see or hear him, his very presence made her calm down and right now, she needed him. Rina sucked in a breath and prayed that her friend would someone how sense that she needed him and would come. She just needed him to give her a sign that he was there. That he would be there for her. She believed in him.

"Gee, what's her problem?" Jack, who had taken refuge on top of the statue of Thaddeus Burgess the moment Jamie landed and was completely unaware of what Rina was thinking, said, jumping off the statue to land by Rina's side. He over heard the remaining conversation Rina and Lyndi had and was just about the pelt Lyndi with snowballs or throw another gust of wind her way when Lyndi left.

Seeing Rina shiver, he attempted to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, already knowing that he would just pass through, when he saw a single tear roll down her cheek. His eyes widened. "Whoa there! Why are you crying?" He asked her.

Rina, obviously not hearing Jack, brought her hand up to her face and wiped away the tear. She turned around to see if Jamie was still there and was just in time to see a sofa flying out of a furniture truck and came to an abrupt stop, pushing Jamie over as it went.

"Oh my god!" Rina gasped while Jack let out a "Whoops" flying over to where Jamie and his friends were and leaving Rina behind.

The girl made a move to approach Jamie, to see if he had survived a second time, when he slowly rose from behind the sofa, grinning. He held up his hand and though Rina was too far to see what he was holding, she had a hunch. Stopping in her place, she watched as Jamie's friends gushed over his fallen tooth. She took a step behind the statue and quietly watched Jamie and his friends leave, probably heading back to his house.

"Lucky kid," Rina muttered under her breath, smiling. "He's going to be visited by the Tooth fairy tonight."

Rina couldn't exactly remember the last time the Tooth fairy visited her. It's been a long time since her last baby tooth fell out. Growing up really did suck.

The sky suddenly rumbled and snow flurries began to fall from the sky. Rina immediately brought her hat out of her pocket and pulled it over her head, already felling a chill run down her spine. She glanced over to the place where Jamie landed and looked back to the ice ramp that made him fly. She rolled her eyes when she put the pieces together.

"This must be _his _work," Rina said to herself, thinking of her invisible friend as she shook her head. That meant he was around. She was right to believe he would come…even if it weren't for her. "It's so like him to do this! Leave it to him to do something so dangerous and fun at the same time!"

Rina laughed under her breath and turned to leave when she suddenly hit a hard surface, causing her to stumble back and fall down onto the snow. She didn't have time to react to the fall since she was too busy trying to figure out what had just happened. Her eyes widened and she stared ahead of herself. There was nothing there. What did she bump into?

Shaking it off, Rina made a move to stand up when a masculine voice filled her ears, scaring her just a tad for she didn't see any boy within hearing distance.

"What's a guy gotta do to get a little attention around here?" the voice asked and he sounded frustrated.

"E – Excuse me?" Rina stuttered out, not sure if she was dreaming or not. Had a sofa hit her too or was she seriously running into nothing and hearing voices? Has she finally lost it?

Jack furrowed his brows and looked down at Rina, shocked to find her on the floor. He had not realized that she was still around. He figured she had left with Jamie in his friends, excited for the Tooth fairy visiting. He raised his brow at her and crouched in front of her. What was she doing on the floor? Why did she look so shaken?

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her, knowing she couldn't hear him. It was still nice that he cared enough to ask. "Is it Lyndi?" He remembered the tear streaming down her face.

"H – how did you know?" Rina said shakily, looking all around her. She was sure no on was paying attention to her and Lyndi, too busy having their fun in the snow to take notice of two girls talking. "Wait. Who's talking?"

"Wait – Wait – WAIT! WHAT?" Jack exclaimed, his eyes widening and his brain going haywire. He stood up from his crouching position and took a step away from Rina, looking down at her with caution and excitement. His heart began beating frantically against his chest. Could this mean something? "You… you can hear me?" He had to make sure he wasn't imagining things.

"Who's talking?" Rina's comment answered his question. She was so shaken and scared that tears began forming. Sure she believed in the Tooth fairy, maybe even Bigfoot and that her invisible friend was real but never had she heard voices. This was freaking her out because she didn't know if the person she was talking to was good or bad or even real. "Where are you?"

Jack crouched back down in front of Rina and brought a hand to her face. She couldn't see him but she could hear him. Could she possible feel him?

"Hey, hey. Don't cry. I'm not going to hurt you," he said, happy to see that he was able to wipe away her tears. He was ecstatic to find out that Rina could hear and feel him. Oh how long it has been since he had actual human contact and was able to talk to someone who wasn't a Guardian!

"Who… who are you?" Rina asked, her voice quiet and her cheeks numbing from Jack's touch. She felt herself blushing when she felt someone brush away her tears. It was embarrassing.

"I'm," Jack froze, wondering why he waited this long to tell Rina his name. Taking in a deep breath, he began speaking again. "My name is Jack Frost."

* * *

**Hello! Okay, today is the morning of my exam and I decided to post this chapter before getting ready for school.**

**I just want you guys to have something while waiting for me to return with more chapter :)**

**I hope it's good enough even though it ends in a cliffhanger.**

**Anyway, good luck to me in the tests. My mind is already blank!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm glad to see that you all enjoyed the last one :)**

**Keep the reviews coming! They really make my day. I look forward to reading them.**

**Sorry for any typos or grammatical errors.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**and**

**I only own what I own!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

"_My name is Jack Frost."_

Rina sucked in a cold breath of air as Jack Frost's words repeated over and over in her head. His voice was smooth and kind and just by the tone of it, she, though embarrassed to admit it, felt herself swoon. She felt her cheeks heat up at the very thought of falling for a voice. The girl bit her lip and opened her mouth to say something when she felt Jack's cold hand rest on her cheek again. She felt a shiver run down her spine when he wiped away her remaining tears. She had calmed down a tad when she realized that he wasn't going to hurt her.

The girl gingerly lifted her hand towards the area where she felt his and lucky for her, she was able to grab hold of his. She removed his hand from her check and placed her other hand on top of his. It was weird seeing her hand just floating above the other, like she was the one holding it up even though she wasn't. Jack's hand was between hers and she just couldn't see it. Rina bit her lip and furrowed her brows, not knowing why she couldn't see him.

"Jack?" Rina asked in a soft voice as she played with Jack's hand. It was so weird when she felt herself open his fist and felt his fingers. In her eyes, her hands were moving around air but she guessed in Jack's eyes, she wasn't. "Who are you exactly?" For some odd reason, she already felt comfortable around him. Like she had known him forever.

Jack was quiet for a moment; too busy focusing on Rina's and his hands. He wondered why she took it upon herself to play with his, opening his fist and tracing down his fingers. If anyone could see them, it would look like she was reading his palm to tell him his fortune but since Rina was the only one visible to everyone else, she was playing with air. He guessed they were lucky that not a lot of people were around them at the moment.

"I'm Jack Frost," Jack said in an equally quiet voice, looking at Rina to see that her eyes were still downcast. "I'm the Winter Spirit."

"But Winter is nearly over," Rina told him, still fascinated with what she was doing.

"That doesn't mean there isn't time for one more Snow Day," Jack chuckled. "You asked for one didn't you?"

Rina felt herself blush when she remembered what she had told Lyndi the previous day and she ran her hand through her hair, knocking off her hat. "You heard that?" She laughed softly under her breath. She thought she and Lyndi were alone that time. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," The Winter Spirit smiled, finding that he liked the way Rina blushed. He also liked that someone appreciated the work he did. Sure, he saw it in their faces and eyes that people enjoyed Snow Days but it was much more different when someone thanked him themselves.

"Rina," Jack began after things became quiet between them, clearing his throat. Rina hummed, telling him that she was listening, but didn't look up. "I need to tell you something."

"Yeah?"

"I'm… Well, to put it simply, I'm your invisible friend," Jack said slowly, studying Rina closely, waiting for her reaction. "I'm the one who comes by at night and talks to you using my frost." It sounded weird coming out of his mouth and he was glad that only Rina could hear him at that moment. If someone else had heard, they might have thought something different.

Rina's eyes widened when she heard Jack's words and she immediately looked up and opened her mouth to respond to his confession but the moment she turned her attention away from their hands, the words died on her lips and she felt her heart skip a beat. She expected to see the road leading away from the statue of Thaddeus Burgess when she looked up, or maybe the ice ramp that shot Jamie into the sky, but instead she saw a boy who looked to be a year or so older than her, crouching. He had ghostly pale skin, white, shaggy hair and the bluest eyes she had ever seen. He had soft, handsome features and wore a blue hoodie with frost around the ring of the collar and brown trousers that were tattered near the ends. He seemed to have a tall stature albeit thin and was barefoot. Lying on the snow next to him was a staff resembling a shepherd's crook.

The girl had not realized it but her jaw dropped at the sight of Jack.

"Uhm, Rina?" Jack asked, raising his brow at her expression. Wasn't she going to say something? He had just told her that he was the one who visited almost every night. He was the one who threw snowballs at her best friend and blew a gust of wind at her to annoy her. The Winter Spirit didn't exactly expect Rina to jump in joy or hug him but he expected her to have some sort of reaction. He wanted her to say something. "Are you… alright?"

Rina could do nothing but nod. Was she really seeing her invisible friend? Was this boy really the one who came by her window and threw snowballs at unsuspecting people? Was he really the one who brought a shiver down her spine whenever he was close?

"I, uh, I know it's a lot to take in, hearing voices and having an invisible person knock you to the floor, but really, I mean no harm. I'm just as shocked as you are," Jack confessed, grabbing hold of both of Rina's hands and brought the girl up to her feet. She staggered a bit and her features relaxed. Her cheeks were still pink though. "For three hundred years I was invisible to everyone. I couldn't talk to them. Heck, I couldn't even touch them! Everyone just ran right through me. Even you! Just earlier today, you ran right through me and it was so weird. You'd think I'd be used to it by now…"

"Jack?"

"And I thought this was going to go on for another three hundred years but then for some reason you were able to communicate with me. The frost. I never thought you would take notice of what I was writing on it but you did! I've got to tell you, it was the best feeling in the world, having you notice that I was there. That I was real," A small smile formed on Jack's face as he remembered the first time he and Rina "talked."

"I was really happy that you became my friend and I looked forward to all our conversations but I still wasn't satisfied. I mean, you would be too if you were in my position, right?"

"Jack?" Rina tried calling his attention again but he was too busy pouring his heart out to her so Rina decided to shut her mouth and listen, her own smile gracing her lips. He just looked so happy.

"And then, all of a sudden, you run right _into _me and you can hear me and… and… and it's just great!" A wide grin replaced Jack's smile and his blue eyes sparkled with glee. "It's so amazing and the best part is that it's _you_, Rina! It's you who can hear me! Sure, Jamie wouldn't have been a bad option either but it's just so awesome that you get to hear what I'm saying!"

The Winter Spirit was so over joyed with the fact that Rina could hear and feel him that he floated into the air, hands still holding onto Rina's. Jack felt that if he let go, he would shoot up into the sky.

"This is so AWESOME! This is the best feeling in the world! I could just kiss you!" Jack paused, blushing. He had not meant to let that slip. Rina's eyes widened and her own blush crept its way to her cheeks. "But I won't do that," the Winter Spirit cleared his throat, dropping back to the ground. "I mean…you can't even see me. How weird would that be?"

Rina couldn't help but laugh at Jack's bashful expression. From all the times they've spoken through frost and from all the times Jack caused mischief, she never would have thought he would make such a cute slip up and get embarrassed from it. She knew he was confident and slightly cocky but seeing him get so excited and animated made him all the more attractive. Not that she would tell him that. Something told her his ego was already big enough as it is.

"I can see you just fine, Jack," Rina took this as a chance to speak, her blush dying down. She squeezed Jack's hands, having already gotten used to how cold they were, and sent him a smile. Her heart began beating faster and she felt like she wanted to jump around. It was her turn to get excited.

"Oh, you can?" Jack grinned, scratching the back of his head before his eyes widened. "YOU CAN?"

"I CAN!" Rina cheered, giving into the temptation to jump in her place. Her grin was so wide that her cheeks were beginning to hurt. "I can't believe you were the one I was talking to all along! It's so cool!" The girl paused, remembering something. "And _you_ were the one who sent Jamie on that death ride!" She poked Jack's chest with every word she said, trying to look irritated but she just ended up smiling in the end.

Jack scoffed. "He had fun," he told her, winking. "You could have gone on a ride too but you decided to ditch us."

"I had no choice!" Rina wrinkled her nose at him and stuck out her tongue. She vaguely wondered what she looked like to other people and she found that she didn't really care. She might have looked like a lunatic or she might have looked like she was trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue. "You're lucky he didn't die!"

"Like I would let that happen," Jack reached out to Rina and ruffled her blonde locks. It was so weird and amazing how he could feel how soft her hair was. "You worry too much, Rina."

"Whatever," the girl rolled her eyes and grinned. She wriggled her hands out of Jack's grasp, causing the boy to frown, and wiped them on her skirt before holding out her hand to him with a grin. The Winter Spirit stared at her outstretched hand in confusion. "I think a proper introduction is long overdue," Rina explained, laughing. "Hello, my name is Rina Snowe and it's a pleasure to meet you."

Jack turned his attention away from Rina's hand and looked the girl straight into her pale green eyes. He raised a brow at her and smirked. "You're really odd, you know that?"

"Just shake it and introduce yourself," Rina pouted, wiggling her fingers in emphasis. "Hurry, my arm is getting tired."

"If I must," Jack sighed, acting as if it was a hassle to do what Rina requested. He took Rina's hand in his and gave it a firm shake, making his hand colder than usual. He grinned when Rina frowned at him. "Well, Rina Snowe, the name's Jack Frost," The Winter Spirit said, his grin never leaving. "And believe me, the pleasure's all mine."

* * *

Rina found herself in Jamie's room, dressed in her favorite Easter jumper and black leggings as pajamas, with Sophie on her lap, listening to Jamie retelling his sledding adventure to his mother. Rina couldn't help but grin as she watched Jamie playing with his toy robot. Behind him, drawings of UFOs, aliens, Bigfoot, and other mythical creatures were pinned to the wall. Rina even helped Jamie make his latest drawing. It was a drawing of himself flying midair on his sled.

"I did this jump and it was amazing, and I slid under a car and it was awesome." Jamie said, jumping around his room, attempting to reenact what his drawing showed. "Then I was flying down this hill, and I was like, _whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, _through all these cars, and then the sled hit this…. This _thing, _and I was, like, way up in the air!"

Jamie lifted his robot in the air, showing them how he flew. Mrs. Bennett's folded her arms across her chest and nodded her head, telling Jamie that she was listening. Rina glanced up at her and smiled to herself. She didn't think Mrs. Bennett believed everything Jamie was saying. If she did, she might have gotten mad and would have told Jamie to be more careful. She knew her mother would have said that to her if she was the one on the sled.

"Why don't you tell her how you lost your tooth?" Rina told Jamie, watching him spin around his room.

"Oh yeah!" Jamie stopped spinning and faced his mother once more. "And then _bam! _Then the sofa hit me, and see?" He opened his mouth and pointed towards the place where his tooth once was.

Sophie jumped out of Rina's arms and tried to put her finger into Jamie's mouth. Rina made a move to stop her but Mrs. Bennett got to her first. "All right, you," she said to Jamie. "Tooth under your pillow?"

Jamie placed his robot on the nightstand and then reached for his favorite stuffed rabbit. Rina got up from her place and moved to sit on Jamie's bed, she stuck her tongue out at him and Jamie returned the gesture.

"Yeah," the boy turned to his mother, kicking Rina from under his blankets. Rina glared at him playfully.

"You ready then?" Rina asked him, holding up her miniature flashlight.

"I'm ready," Jamie grinned. Under his pillow were the tooth, a camera, and a flashlight. "Are you?"

"Of course I am," Rina scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I've tried to catch the Tooth Fairy so many times and before I knew it, I ran out of baby teeth. I'm now depending on you and your teeth."

"Hahaha," Jamie laughed sarcastically.

"If all else fails, there's still Sophie," Rina stated, glancing over at the tot. She playfully roared at her and Sophie squealed, covering her mouth with her tiny hands. Mrs. Bennett shook her head at the children's antics.

"Now, don't stay up trying to see her, Jamie, Rina, or she won't come." Mrs. Bennett warned them.

"But I can do it this time," Jamie said, "And Rina's here to help!" He added before looking over to his sister. "You want to help me too, Soph? We can hide and see the Tooth Fairy!"

"Hide! Hide, hide, hide…." Sophie began running around the room, making Rina laugh. Mrs. Bennett rolled her eyes and scooped her daughter into her arms. She then looked over to Jamie.

"Straight to bed now, mister," She told him before looking over to Rina. "You too, missy."

"Mom." "Mrs. Bennett." Jamie and Rina whined at the same time, making Sophie giggle. The girl jumped out of her mother's grasp and landed into Rina's arms, making the girl go "_Oomph!"_

"Story! Story!" the child cheered, latching her hands onto Rina's neck.

"Alright. Alright," Rina chuckled, standing up from Jamie's bed and without Mrs. Bennett's knowledge, sent him a wink that meant she would come back to his room when Mrs. Bennett fell asleep. "You should listen to your mom, Jamie," she said trying to set a good example.

"Fine," Jamie sighed, getting under his covers, and watched as the three girls left his room, shutting the door behind them.

Rina readjusted her hold on Sophie and bid Mrs. Bennett goodnight, making her way to Sophie's room. She placed the tot on her bed and brought the blankets over her small body. She then moved over to Sophie's bookshelf that held numerous picture books and children's movies like _Barbie _and _Bratz. _

"Now, what story would you like me to read?" Rina asked, skimming the titles.

"I want _your _story!" Sophie said, sitting up straighter in her bed, pushing the blankets off when she wiggled her feet excitedly.

"_My _story?" Rina looked at Sophie, raising her brow. "I don't have a story."

"Yes you do!" Sophie pouted, scrunching up her face. "You told Jamie!"

Rina stared at Sophie for a moment, wondering what the tot was talking about before putting two and two together. The girl's eyes widened and her cheeks felt warm when she realized what Sophie was talking about. Slowly, she made her way towards Sophie's bed and pushed the little tot down, tucking her back in.

"You heard that?" She asked quietly, not wanting anyone to hear her.

Sophie hummed in conformation. "You have an invisible friend!" the child grinned, her eyes sparkling. "I want to hear the story!"

"Well… alright. But you have to keep it a secret, okay?" Rina gave in to the look Sophie was giving her. She was so innocent and cute that Rina couldn't possibly say no to her. It was close to impossible.

Sophie mimicked zipping her mouth shut with a zipper and looked up at Rina expectedly. Rina furrowed her brows in concentration, trying to get her thoughts together before looking out Sophie's window. When she saw the moon shinning brightly in the sky, Rina suddenly knew how she was going to tell Sophie how she and Jack first met. The first time they talked through frost and if Sophie was still awake and if there was still time, she would tell her what happened earlier that day. The first time they spoke – actually spoke with each other.

"Well, baby, it all began when my window frosted…"

* * *

**Hello! Are you guys shocked to see me? :)**

**Okay, I know I said I might not be able to update because I have exams and I have to focus on studying but I can't help it! I really want to continue this fic.**

**Also, let's face it, I don't really study.**

**I know, I know. I _should _study because my grades are important but I can't help it! I read my notes and my books and... then I hope for the best.**

**Yeah... I'm a horrible influence, aren't I? Don't follow in my footsteps.**

**Anyway, after I upload this, I promise I'll hit the books! I SWEAR~**

**Also, again, I really appreciate all your reviews and also I'm touched that some of you wished me luck for my exams. **

**You guys are so awesome.**

**Oh! I also updated today because I couldn't leave you guys with a cliffhanger. I felt like it was too cruel of me :P**

**(Did this end in a cliffhanger as well? I'm not all too sure. If it did... oops.)**

**I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and I hope I portrayed Jack well :)**

**Sorry for any typos or grammatical errors.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**and **

**I only own what I own.**

**(NOW I'll hit the books.) **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:**

Rina smiled softly when Sophie's head lolled to the side, mouth wide open as she softly snored. Rina wasn't even finished with her story and already Sophie was knocked out. It was either the young girl was so knackered and refused to admit it or Rina's tale was truly boring. The girl decided it was the former option since Sophie enjoyed her stories before.

Pulling the blanket further up the tot so she wouldn't get cold, Rina blew a butterfly kiss on Sophie's forehead and left the room. She snuck into Jamie's room, careful to be quiet as a mouse so that Mrs. Bennett wouldn't hear her, and slowly opened the door.

The moment she caught a familiar looking frost on Jamie's window, Rina dashed down the hall and out of the Bennett's house.

* * *

The full moon above Jack Frost lit up the sky and the Winter Spirit was able to watch the rise and fall of Jamie Bennett's chest as the boy slept soundly, not able to stay awake long enough to catch the Tooth Fairy. Jack Frost was hanging upside down outside Jamie's window and he saw the boy clutching onto his flashlight. Frowning, his cool breath frosted over the glass. He didn't even notice Jamie's door opening slightly.

"If there's something I'm doing wrong, I'd really like to know what it is," Jack said to the moon, his expression sad and confused. "'Cause I've tried _everything_ and no one ever sees me. Rina is the only exception and I don't even know what I did! I was just playing with frost on her window and now… now she's the only one who can see me… Why her?"

The moon remained silent, like it was keeping a secret. Jack furrowed his brows and squinted at the moon, trying to see if he can get any reaction from it. It continued to light up the sky. The Winter Spirit sighed.

"I mean, you put me here, the least you can do is tell me _why_. Is this some kind punishment? Was I supposed to do something? How about Rina? Was I supposed to meet her? Does she know why I'm here?" Jack asked, hopeful. Maybe that's the reason why she was able to see him. Maybe she didn't only believe but knew his purpose. Maybe…

The moon continued to shine, steady and unchanging.

Jack shook his head and grumbled. So much for _that _idea. "Why do I even bother?"

"If you keep talking to the moon, people are going to think you're crazy or something!" A girl's voice caught Jack's attention. He jumped slightly in his place and he looked down to see Rina grinning up at him. A smile graced the Winter Spirit's lips. Well, if the moon wasn't going to tell him anything, maybe Rina would let something slip – A clue that would tell him why. Why _anything. _

"Well, if you keep shouting at the sky at the dead of night, people are going to think _you're _crazy!" Jack laughed, seeing Rina's confused expression. It was so cute how her brows scrunched up together and her eyes widened with thought. "No one else but you can see me!" The Winter Spirit added.

Rina's expression changed at Jack's comment. She didn't think of that. The Winter Spirit jumped down to the ground and flicked Rina's nose, trying to get her to smile again. It was his favorite thing about her. Instead of smiling, the girl gasped and took a step back, not expecting Jack to do such a thing.

"What did you do that for?" Rina asked him, bringing her hands up to her nose, feeling it numb and also covered her flush cheeks with her actions. She didn't want Jack to know he had that kind of effect on her. It was too embarrassing.

"Where's your hat, Rina?" Jack teased her, raising his brow. "You don't want Jack Frost nipping at your nose."

"S – Shut up," Rina stuttered, brushing her hair back. "It's not _that _cold out here."

Taking Rina's comment as a challenge, Jack smirked and with a wave of his staff, sent a cold breeze Rina's way. The girl's pale green eyes closed out of reflex her nose wrinkled when the wind hit her, blowing her hair back and sending a shiver down her spine. She wrapped her arms around herself and opened her eyes to glare at Jack. The Winter Spirit merely grinned at her frustrated expression.

"That was uncalled for," Rina frowned, bringing her hands up to her hair to flatten it. Hopefully it didn't look worse than her bedhead hair. At least Jack already saw that.

"It was funny," Jack continued to grin, finding her upset look amusing. He knew Rina – she wasn't easy to anger.

"Sure it was," Rina's frown soon turned into a grin and she rolled her eyes at Jack before glancing up at the moon. It was really beautiful. "By the way, why were you talking to the moon?" She asked the Winter Spirit. She had heard of people who were so intact with nature that they claimed to understand flowers and hear the stars whisper in the night but she didn't think Jack would be that kind of person. He didn't seem the type.

"I was just asking him why he put me here three hundred years ago," Jack shrugged his shoulders, glancing at the moon. For some reason, he found it easy to tell Rina this. Maybe it was because she was the only one there to listen. Regardless, he was glad it was her.

"Put you here?" Rina asked, confused.

"Yeah. All I remember is being scared and that things were dark and cold and, before I knew it, I came out of a pond and when I looked at the moon, I wasn't scared anymore… I don't know… Nothing looked familiar and no one in the village I went to could see me. Sort of like now," Jack frowned. He remembered how confused he was when no one would respond to his questions and how children and parents just walked right through him like he wasn't there. "The moon just told me my name and that's about it. Never heard a word from him again. You're the first person to see me."

"That's odd. Why me?" Rina's brows knitted together in thought and she brought her hand to her chin. It was a strange habit she had. Stroking her chin in thought as if she had a beard. She vaguely wondered if Santa ever did that before she said, "There's nothing special about me."

"Nothing special?" Jack scoffed. He had heard many girls say this to their boyfriends, looking for complements but when Rina said it, it was different. It seemed that she honestly thought she wasn't special. "You believe when many your age stopped. Also, you put up with Lyndi. I think that's pretty special."

"That's just called patience," Rina laughed softly. It always amazed her how she and Lyndi were still friends even with all the bad things people said to her. Was she really that loyal or was she just blind? Maybe it was a little bit of both. Rina didn't want to think too much about it. Lyndi leaving her still made her heart clench. "That still doesn't explain why I'm still the first to see you instead of someone like…. like Jamie. The kid knew about you before I did!"

"Maybe the moon can tell you that because I'm getting nothing from him," Jack told her, sticking his hand into his hoodie's pocket, looking up at the moon as well. Suddenly, the Winter Spirit got an idea. "Let's go up."

"Up where?" Rina raised a brow, turning her attention to Jack. _"The moon?"_

"No," Jack chuckled at Rina's shocked expression. She looked so frightened at the idea of flying to the moon. He guessed he would be too if he were like her. Then again, he wouldn't really know. "You think you can walk on the telephone wire?"

"If I want to die," Rina deadpanned.

Jack frowned and Rina laughed. The Winter Spirit then smirked, floating off of the ground, staff held tightly in his hand. Rina watched him warily, not liking the way he was smirking. From what she gathered, Jack was full of mischievous ideas and wouldn't really think twice when it came to fun. Taking a step away from him, Rina tried to guess what Jack had planned.

"Jack…" Rina began with a warning tone.

"I guess the roof is the next best thing," Jack ignored her warning and grabbed hold of Rina's hand, not giving her a chance to react. Rina tried to wriggle out of his grasp when all of a sudden; Jack flew off, bringing her along with him.

"JAAAAAAAACK!" Rina squealed, shocked and scared that her feet were no longer planted on the ground but instead swinging underneath her, looking for some sort of surface to stand on.

Rina dared to look down at the snow-covered houses, cars and roads, marveling at how breathtakingly beautiful everything looked. She was about to comment on it when she was flung into the air without warning. The girl flailed her arms around, as if they were wings, and was just about to let out a scream when she felt Jack's arms wrap around her, catching her before she fell to her doom. Rina immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face against his chest, feeling his cold skin against her.

The Winter Spirit chuckled, his rumbling chest making Rina blush for reasons unknown to her, and stood tall on his staff, bending forward to get a reaction from Rina. The girl felt herself shift and pulled back only to see Jack smirking at her. She glared at him and Jack let out a laugh at her disgruntled appearance. Her blonde hair was all over the place and her cheeks were flushed. Behind the glare, Jack knew she was frightened but he could see an ounce of excitement in her eyes.

It was the same as Jamie's when he rode his sled earlier that day.

At Rina's quiet request, Jack brought them to the nearest roof and hopped off his staff. He then placed Rina back on her feet. The girl wouldn't release her hold on him though, still thinking that if she would let go, she would fall.

"I'm afraid of heights, you know," Rina said in a shaky tone, looking up at Jack with a small smile on her lips. "But I had fun."

"That's what I'm here for," Jack grinned, bringing his hands up to her arms and gently removing her hold on his neck. He thought that when Rina got a hold her herself, she might just strangle him. Sure, Rina wasn't like that but he didn't want to take any chances.

"You could have warned me," Rina told him, as she folded her arms across her chest, feeling cold. Jack saw this and took a small step away from her, knowing that his presence wasn't exactly warming her up.

"Now, what would give you the idea that I'm the kind of person who would do that?" Jack sent her a teasing smile before catching a stream of dreamsand zip behind Rina's unsuspecting head. He was about to comment on it when another appeared in front of him. Rina's eyes widened at the sight and soon the two of them were surrounded by dreamsand.

Rina marveled at the gold and glittery streams and when she looked up, she saw them everywhere. Looking to both her left and right, she watched as the dreamsand flew over the roofs, down the streets and into windows of sleeping children.

"Right on time, Sandman," Jack smiled, watching as Rina laughed and reached up to touch the dreamsand. She giggled with glee when she saw a dog made out of the dreamsand run around her, barking. Looking at Jack, she saw a dolphin swimming around him before entering a window.

"This is the Sandman's work?" Rina asked Jack, her eyes wide and her cheeks pink. She couldn't recall a time she'd seen something so magical other than seeing Jack's frost for the first time.

"Uhuh," Jack said, taking Rina's hand and bringing her closer to a stream of dreamsand. "These beauties are dreamsand. Sandy sends them to you every night."

"How come I've never seen them before?" Rina pouted, "I believe in him!"

"You've never seen them before because you're asleep!" Jack chuckled, messing up Rina's hair and stretching to look at the Sandman's work. "You've seen the dreams he's sent you though."

"Every night," Rina smiled. "I want to thank him."

"Well, if you can somehow find away to fly up to him, then you can," Jack twirled his staff in his hand and wiggled his brows at her.

"Oh, can you, Jack? Can you?" Rina began to jump excitedly in her place, wanting so much to meet another person who she believed in. Could Jack possible introduce her to Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy? Maybe even the Easter Bunny!

"Well, when you put it like that – _Whoa!" _Jack was interrupted when a shadowy figure suddenly ran past him, causing him and Rina to let go of each other's hands. Rina was surprised as well, her excited expression quickly turning to that of worry and curiosity.

"What was that?" She asked, when the figure passed by again, nearly sending her toppling over. Jack quickly caught her and brought her back to the ground.

"I'm not sure," Jack muttered, looking around to see if the figure was going to come back again. "I'm going to investigate. Would you be alright finding your way back?"

Rina knitted her brows together and looked at her surroundings. She realized that she and Jack were standing in front of Lyndi's house. The girl pursed her lips and looked back at Jack.

"I'll be fine," She told him with a wry smile.

"Are you sure?" Jack caught Rina's unease. "I can quickly fly you back –"

The figure zoomed past them again and Rina caught Jack's determined look in his eyes.

"I'll be fine. Just go! You might lose him!" Rina urged Jack, pushing him forward to emphasize that she wanted him to chase the figure. "Just be careful."

Jack nodded his head and flew after the figure, sending a gust of wind Rina's way when he took off. Rina stumbled back, not expecting Jack to go as fast as he did, and whispered a soft "Good luck," before turning around to make her way back to the Bennett's house. Before she could even take a step forward, she heard Lyndi's front door open.

* * *

**Hey, guys! **

**Sorry I've disappeared for a while! My exams ended yesterday but I wasn't able to go home right away because I joined this campus tour and let's just say by the time I got home, all I wanted to do was eat and sleep.**

**Also, I've been pretty busy today and I was just able to write everything up now :)**

**(I was also able to re-watch Rise of the Guardians. Can't get enough of that movie. Love it so much)**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

**Stay tuned for the next one (Hopefully it will be up tomorrow!)**

**Sorry for the typos and what not. I try my best to avoid them but they keep coming to get me.**

**Please tell me what you think. Your reviews keep me going!**

**Bye!**

**I only own what I own. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight:**

The first time Rina and Lyndi met was in school. Lyndi was your typical popular girl while Rina was that girl you saw in the halls but never looked twice at. Lyndi was adored by all for her long ginger hair which was always neatly styled and finished off with a beautiful bow and her brown eyes seemed to sparkle whenever she spoke. She was a pretty child and there was no doubt that she would grow up to be drop dead gorgeous. Boys didn't pick on her because they were intimidated and seemed to stumble over their words whenever she was near and girls wouldn't dare talk behind Lyndi's back because whenever they did, bad things happened to them. It was like karma for picking on someone so nice.

People everywhere loved Lyndi and she knew it.

Rina, on the other hand, always loved art. She doodled on any piece of paper she got her hands on and whenever she finished answer a test, she would draw on the spaces available on the sheet. She always wore clothes that were too big for her because she didn't enjoy shopping and decided to grow into her clothes. The only time she bought something new was when she no longer fit into the one that she had. Rina's blonde hair never grew past her shoulders because she despised the way it got in her face whenever she drew so Rina was never seen without a headband keeping her hair back.

The girl was plain and silent and always stuck back, away from everyone else.

Lyndi and Rina were complete opposites but somehow they became the best of friends.

It all started when Lyndi was elected to create their class poster for a competition. She had been bragging that she had been going to art school for years and the moment the contest was mentioned, everyone in her class chose her to represent them. Of course Lyndi wasn't exactly telling the truth about her art classes so she had to find someone who was willing to draw for her and _not _tell everyone about her lie.

Rina was the perfect girl to do such a task and Lyndi offered the lonely girl friendship. Lyndi promised to defend Rina against all her bullies if Rina created the poster and kept the fact that she created it their little secret. Rina, who had been picked on for her choice of clothing and 'just woke up' look, accepted Lyndi's offer and since then, they have been best friends.

Lyndi loved that Rina did nothing but listen to her and that she _never _copied her style (not like the other girls in their class) and Rina appreciated Lyndi's constant presence. She loved the fact the Lyndi kept her company and stuck to her promise.

Before any of them knew it, they've been going over to each other's houses for sleepovers and shared their deepest darkest secrets with one another – the kind of secrets only their diaries knew about.

It seemed like such a perfect friendship up until Rina met Jamie, someone who shared her belief in the Mythical beings, and when Lyndi became interested in clothes, makeup and boys.

The two didn't realize that little by little they were drifting apart.

* * *

Rina felt her heart skip and prayed that she was just imagining things. She wanted so much to run back to the Bennett's house but when she saw a yellow glow on the snow and her shadow, she knew that she didn't imagine the door opening. Stiffly, she turned around to see Lyndi leaning against her doorframe and giving her a look that made Rina shiver. Lyndi was dressed in her favorite pink flamingo robe and had multicolored curlers in her hair yet she still looked threatening. Her brown eyes bore into Rina's pale green ones and the girl knew there was something on Lyndi's mind.

It was the same look she gave to all those people who dared to speak bad things behind her back. It was also the same look she had when she was getting impatient beyond belief.

Lyndi pushed herself off of her doorframe and trudged into the snow, not caring about the fact that her feet were now cold and wet. She watched Rina straighten up and she immediately took her hand in an iron grip, ignoring Rina's wince.

"It's about time you got here!" Lyndi huffed as she turned around and dragged Rina into her house. She paid no mind to Rina stumbling over the steps to her front door nor did she care that Rina bumped into her door. To her, it was Rina's own fault.

"Wh – What?" Rina asked, startled by Lyndi's actions. It wasn't like her to be like this around her. Was she truly that mad? If she was, why did she bring Rina into her house?

"The text?" Lyndi looked over her shoulder to glance at Rina before turning her attention back to the staircase they were climbing. "I texted you like ten minutes ago!"

"Ten minutes ago?" Rina knitted her brows together and frowned. She had left her cellphone at home – uncharged. "Why did you text me? Is there something wrong?"

"Is something wrong?" Lyndi repeated, disbelief in her voice. She stopped at the final step, causing Rina to bump into her. Rina nearly fell back but she luckily grabbed hold of the rail. "I can't believe you just asked that, Rina," Lyndi dragged Rina into her room, pushing her towards her bed. "It's like you didn't even read my text!"

Rina landed on Lyndi's bed with an _oomph. _Instead of falling on top of pillows and sheets, Rina found herself lying on a pile of Lynd's clothes. She saw dresses, shoes, belts, headbands and makeup. The girl pushed off a yellow summer dress she had only seen Lyndi wear once. Rina looked over to her friend and watched as she reached into her closet, throwing out blouses, skirts skinny jeans and the like.

"Lyndi –" Rina began to say when a winter coat and scarf landed on her head, shocking her and sending her to the floor. She winced when her knee made contact with one of Lyndi's heels.

"_Ugh! _Rina, I have absolutely _nothing _to wear for tomorrow!" Lyndi cried out, falling to her knees, wanting so much to run her hands through her hair in frustration but had to restrain herself because she didn't want to ruin her curls.

"Tomorrow?" Rina pulled the coat and scarf off, placing them on the overflowing pile on Lyndi's bed. How in the world did all these clothes fit into Lyndi's closet? "What's happening tomorrow?"

Lyndi rolled her eyes at Rina's question and moved to sit in front of her Vanity mirror. She took out her mascara and began to apply it. "Honestly, Rina, I thought you of all people would know." When Rina didn't respond, Lyndi grumbled. "It's Easter, Rina, _duh_!"

"Easter? Oh my god! I should get my basket ready –" Rina started to stand up but was stopped when Lyndi banged her hands on her table, making her makeup tumble over. She swiftly rose from her seat and looked Rina hard in the eye.

"For goodness sake, Rina! Would you _please _stop thinking about hunting for those stupid eggs and focus on what's _important!_" Lyndi asked, fed up with Rina's childlike behavior. Rina, according to Lyndi, was so much better during the first few weeks of winter but something changed and now she was worse than ever. "Those eggs aren't going anywhere."

Obviously Lyndi didn't know how Easter worked. Rina pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows. "What _is _important, Lyndi? Why did you call me over?"

"It's all in the text, Rina!" Lyndi said, looking into her closet and tossing another outfit out. "But since you seemed to forget everything that I've put in there, I'll tell you." Lyndi pulled out her favorite shade of lipstick and quickly put it on, smacking her lips together before continuing. "Michael just asked me out on a date and I'm in a crisis because I have _nothing _to wear!"

Michael was a boy in their class. He had brown hair that Lyndi swore was soft to the touch and chocolate brown eyes that seemed to make every girl swoon. Every girl except Rina for she had known the boy since they were young and saw nothing but the little kid who played with robots in Burgess' resident park. She didn't see the devilishly handsome varsity baseball player everyone else did.

Ever since Michael joined the team and began to work out, he's been the object of Lyndi's eye.

"Nothing to wear? Didn't you just say you bought a whole new wardrobe?" asked Rina, running her hand through her hair, making Lyndi's eye twitch.

"I bought a _spring _wardrobe, Rina. _Spring!" _Lyndi sighed with exasperation, applying blush on her cheeks. "After the Snow Day today, I don't think it's going to let up tomorrow. I need to look absolutely perfect tomorrow. Michael just _has _to fall in love with me!"

"Why are you getting ready tonight though? The date's tomorrow," Rina asked, confused as to why Lyndi was applying makeup and doing her hair. Picking out an outfit made sense to her, somewhat, but everything else left her stumped.

Lyndi stood up from her seat and folded her arms across her chest, looking at Rina like she was some kind of idiot. Rina caught this look and felt herself shrink under Lyndi's gaze.

"So I know how I'm going to look tomorrow. It's so obvious!" said Lyndi, moving to her pile of clothing and tossing one after the other to the floor. "I don't want to go through this dilemma tomorrow and make myself late so I'm preparing everything tonight."

"Then why do you need me here?" Rina asked, avoiding the clothes that were coming her way. She caught a belt and a ballet shoe before they hit her in the face. "Aren't you mad at me?"

"_Ugh, _you're still thinking about that, Rina? That's so yesterday!"

"It just happened!"

"Okay, okay," Lyndi held up her hands and rolled her eyes. It seemed like the next thing she was going to say was going to be such a hassle for her. "I forgive you, happy?"

"You _forgive _–"

"Now will you help me pick out an outfit? You know Michael and maybe you can help me put something together that Michael will love," Lyndi held up a blouse in each hand. To Rina, they were identical but Lyndi could see the difference between the two. "So which do you think he would like? I _need_ Michael to fall in love with me. The sooner the better."

"I'm not going to help you with this. It's stupid." Rina grumbled, tossing the shoe and belt at Lyndi's feet and making her way to the door. She was just about to twist the glass knob when Lyndi spoke.

"It's so like you to do this," said Lyndi, placing her blouses on her bed. "You've always been jealous of me. It was just a matter of time before you exploded."

Rina turned back to stare at Lyndi with disbelief. Was she actually hearing this right now? "_Jeal – Explo _– What are you on about?" The girl asked, curious as to what crawled into Lyndi's ear to make her say such things. Surely she didn't think Rina was acting like this due to _jealousy. _

"You've always been jealous of me, Rina, admit it. You were a little nobody before you met me. No one would have known you existed until you became my friend. You're _lucky _that I befriended a loser like you," Lyndi shrugged her shoulders and slowly removed the curlers from her hair. "And now that Michael is showing an interest in me, it's become too much for you to handle. You poor little thing."

"What makes you think I like Michael?"

"Isn't he your ideal boy? You said it yourself when we were younger. You love a boy with brown hair and eyes. He's your dream boy," Lyndi said in a high voice, attempting to sound like a lovesick Rina. "You went on and on about a dream you had with a boy with brown hair and eyes dragging you into the forest in the winter. You said he always made you laugh and he had this darling little sister that he just _adored _even though he played tricks on her. It's all you ever talked about! It was so cute."

Rina opened her mouth to speak but Lyndi interrupted her. "It was _so _obvious that you were thinking about Michael. After all, who else has brown hair and eyes in our batch and is crush worthy? Everyone else is so plain." Lyndi laughed. She marked every crush worthy boy in their yearbook. "You love Michael, don't you? You should have confessed to him when you had a chance."

"I don't believe this," Rina whispered, tears forming in her eyes. She was slowly shaking her head, reaching towards the doorknob once more, a wry smile on her lips. "I don't believe this."

"What don't you believe? That I was right?"

"I don't believe that they were right! You're absolutely horrid and I can't believe I've stayed your friend for this long!" Rina pried the door open. "You're horrible!"

"Horrible? How dare you! Take that back, Rina! I'm your best friend remember? You don't want to get me angry. You know what happens to those who get me angry," Lyndi said, a sinister smile on her lips. "Come back and apologize while I'm still willing to forgive you."

"Willing to forgive me? You can't be serious!" Rina let out a laugh. "You should be asking _me _for forgiveness for all the times you treated me like dirt. Goodbye, Lyndi." The girl stepped out of the room and slammed the door shut – not caring is she woke Lyndi's parents up. She then turned around and dashed down the stairs, happy that she didn't trip over her own feet this time.

She needed to get away from Lyndi. She needed to go. Rina ran out of Lyndi's house and down the street until she reached a corner. Slowing down, Rina looked up to the sky and was sad to see that the Sandman's dreamsand was nowhere in sight. She hoped that the dreamsand was still there. Maybe it would have cheered her up. The only thing in the sky was the moon and it shined down on Rina. The girl bit her lip and shook her head.

"Where's Jack when you need him?" She mumbled to herself, wiping away a tear and walked down the street with careful steps. Maybe she shouldn't have let Jack go after the figure.

* * *

Everything happened so fast. Jack found out Rina could see him and they just spent the night flying and watching the Sandman do his job instead of communication through frost. Then, before he knew it, a mysterious black figure interrupted them and he had left Rina to find out what the figure was. Later, he found out it was the Easter Bunny all along and before he could do anything, he was shoved into a sack by North's yetis and tossed into a magic portal. When he finally crawled out of said sack, he saw North and Sandy staring down at him and Tooth was just flying nearby, surrounded by her Mini Fairies.

If Rina were here, Jack thought, she would have a field day with all her idols in one room.

"Wow. You've _got _to be kidding me," Said Jack. The two yetis reached forward and propped him up. "Hey, hey. Whoa, put me down."

"I hope the yetis treated you well," North said.

"Oh, yeah," Jack replied, sarcastically. "I love being shoved in a sack and tossed through a magic portal."

"Oh good." North nodded, not sensing Jack's sarcasm. "That was _my _idea." Bunny entered and North began the introductions. Jack didn't expect the introductions to go smoothly but he was shocked when Tooth immediately complemented his teeth after she was introduced. It also confused him to no end when she opened up his mouth to peer at his teeth. It was too close for comfort.

"Girls, pull yourselves together. Let's not disgrace to uniform," Tooth told her Mini Fairies when they began to flutter like butterflies around Jack's face, trying to get a look in his mouth as well.

North then moved onto the Sandman but poor Sandy had fallen asleep while North introduced the others. The Sandman bolted upright and smiled at Jack when North shook him awake.

"Anyone want to tell me why I'm here?" Jack was getting impatient.

For some reason, he couldn't wait to return to Rina. Sure, being around the Guardians was fine and dandy but they didn't seem to have that kind of spark Rina had. It was pathetic that he couldn't stop thinking about the girl but he couldn't help it. There was just something about her. Something he couldn't quite explain. He would have asked the Man in the Moon but obviously the guy was keeping his lips sealed.

"That's not really helping." The Winter Spirit told Sandy when the guy made dreamsand images appear over his head, trying to explain everything to Jack. "But thanks, little man," he added. Jack then turned his attention to the others. "I musta done something _really _bad to get _you _four together." Jack walked around the room, stopping before North. He suddenly remembered something. "Am I on the Naughty list?"

* * *

**And here's Chapter 8!**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this Chapter. I had a bit of a hard time beginning it but... yeah. Okay. It's there :P**

**So we see that Rina finally stood up to Lyndi but is this the last we see of her? Who knows~**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Sorry for any typos, grammatical errors and the like.**

**Please review and tell me what you think! It really means a lot to hear from you all!**

**Once again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**I only own what I own.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine:**

Jack watched as Tooth fluttered to the ground, a dejected look on her face. In her hand was an empty tooth box and Baby Tooth was resting on a broken box nearby. The Winter Spirit walked over to them and crouched low beside the Tooth Fairy. From where he was, he carefully listened to Bunny and North's conversation. They were talking about Pitch, the man who had just attacked Tooth Palace, stealing all of the children's teeth and kidnapping Tooth's Mini Fairies. Baby tooth was the only fairy that was saved, thanks to Jack.

"I'm sorry about the fairies," Jack told Tooth in a soft voice. He, along with everyone else, wished that he could have done more but the Nightmares were too much for them to handle and it frustrated Jack and the Guardians to no end.

"You should have seen them. They put up such a fight," sighed Tooth. She could only imagine how frightened her Mini Fairies were, being taken away by the Nightmare King.

"Why would Pitch take the teeth?" The Winter Spirit asked her, confused as to what the Boogeyman would want with a bunch of children's teeth. They _were _just teeth right?

"It's not the teeth he wanted," Tooth explained, seeing Jack's confused expression. "It's the memories inside them."

Jack's eyes widened and stared at the Tooth Fairy. All this time he thought teeth were just there to help you eat and make your smile attractive. "What do you mean?"

The Tooth Fairy looked at the Winter Spirit and flew up from her place on the ground, leading him across the palace lagoon. The water under Jack's feet hardened into ice with every step he took. They stopped in front of a wall mural. Jack gazed at the picture that showed memories being gathered.

"That's why we collect the teeth, Jack. They hold the most important memories of childhood," said Tooth in a gentle tone. "My fairies and I watch over them, and when someone needs to remember what's important, we help them. We had every one's here," Tooth paused, looking at Jack. "Yours too."

"My memories?" Jack asked, shocked.

"From when you were young," Tooth replied. "Before you became Jack Frost."

The Winter Spirit shook his head in disbelief. "But I wasn't anyone before I was Jack Frost." All he remembered was being scared and that everything was dark and cold. The next thing he remembered was the moon telling him his name and before he knew it, three hundred years passed.

"Of course you were. We were all someone before we were chosen," Tooth said.

"What?"

* * *

Rina wrapped her arms around herself and pulled at her jumper's sleeves so that they covered her knuckles. She breathed out a cold breath, seeing fog escape her lips, and she sniffed. Sure, she loved the cold and was used to it but tonight seemed to be different. She was shaking from the temperature and from nerves. It just dawned on her – what she had said to Lyndi. Rina knew Lyndi wasn't the same girl as before. She knew that Lyndi was a horrible friend and that she never treated her right but Rina just couldn't let it go. Maybe she was stubborn or maybe she was a fool. She was a bit of both, she realized, but she wasn't nervous about breaking her friendship off with Lyndi.

She was nervous about what Lyndi would do now that they were no longer friends.

The girl knew Lyndi wasn't exactly a perky princess and she had witnessed what happened to those who got on Lyndi's nerves. Lyndi had a way to make you regret upsetting her. She would make your life a living hell in a blink of an eye. Rina knew that Lyndi would not take Rina's comment lightly and the girl could only wait to see what Lyndi had planned for her.

Rina just hoped that whatever Lyndi did wouldn't scar her too bad.

The girl only had Lyndi as a friend in their age group and, at that time, she thought it was enough. Now that they were no longer friends, Rina didn't know what she would do when she goes back to school. She couldn't hang out with Jamie and his friends forever and if Lyndi had anything to do about it, Rina wouldn't have anyone to hang out with at all.

She knew Lyndi was aware of her weakness and it wasn't beneath Lyndi to use it against her.

When Rina found the street to Jamie's house, she felt herself quicken her pace. She felt the cold wind bite her cheeks but she didn't stop. She needed to get inside. She needed to get away from the outside world. The girl looked up and saw the moon shinning down at her. It was silent and unmoving but for some reason it made her slow down. She gazed up at it and suddenly she thought about what Lyndi had told her about her _dream _boy.

Thanks to Lyndi's description, Rina could vaguely make out what the boy looked like but his face was blurred.

The girl felt her heart skip a beat at the thought of the boy and she shook her head, trying to shake the boy out of her mind. She finally reached the Bennett's house and she gently pushed the front door open and quietly made her way up the staircase. She carefully made her way towards Sophie's room, entering it with care as to not wake the tot. Seeing that Sophie was still fast asleep, Rina sat down on the floor, leaned against Sophie's bed and closed her eyes.

The moment her eyes closed, Rina fell asleep and began to dream.

"_Irina!" A little girl laughed, waving a hand in front of Rina's face, snapping her out of her daze. Rina blinked her eyes several times and looked over to the girl, sending her a small smile. The girl had straight brown hair, reaching between her elbows and shoulders, and her eyes were a nice chocolate brown. There was a beauty mark under her right eye, Rina noticed, and she wore a brown dress with red-white plaid design on the bottom. _

_Rina knitted her brows together, wondering who the girl was and why she was wearing such an odd choice of clothing, when she looked down at herself, shocked to see that she was wearing something similar to the girl. She had a brown skirt that flowed past her knees and a thick white blouse to keep her warm from the cold. Looking around, Rina saw that she was in an unfamiliar village and that everything seemed to be quite old. There wasn't a building insight – just cottage like homes and trees. Oh, and a lot of snow._

"_Irina!" The girl repeated, making Rina turn her attention back to her. Rina wondered why she was responding to a name that wasn't hers but she guessed it was she who the girl was talking to since no one else was around them. There were only adults walking around and little kids playing by themselves. Rina and the girl were the only ones building a snowman._

"_Yes, Emma?" Rina found herself asking, confused as to why she knew the girl's name. "Sorry. I spaced out."_

"_I'm used to it, Irina. It's _so_ like you!" Emma giggled, collecting a pile of snow by her feet and forming it into a giant ball. The snowman they were making was lacking its head. It already had sticks stuck to its sides for arms and pebbles on its front as buttons. "Did you bring the carrot?"_

"_Of course I did," Rina scoffed, pulling out the vegetable from her skirt pocket, showing it to the girl before helping her collect enough snow for the snowman's head. "Can't have our snowman living its life without so much as smelling the fresh winter air!"_

_Emma rolled her eyes and picked up the snowman's head, gently placing it on top of its body. She took the carrot from Rina's hands and placed it in the middle of the snowman's face. Rina picked up two pebbles and made the snowman's eyes. Together, they created the snowman's mouth._

"_He seems to be missing something," Rina tapped her finger on her chin in thought, squinting at the smiling snowman. Beside her, Emma pouted her lips and stared at the snowman as well. "But what is it?"_

"_It has eyes," Emma began to list, holding out a finger. "And a nose. He has buttons and a smile as well."_

"_He also has arms," Rina added before her eyes widened. "Oh! I know! He's missing –"_

_But Rina never got to finished her revelation for something cold hit her at the back of her head, nearly sending her flying into the snowman. Lucky for her, she was able to catch herself before she ruined all of Emma's and her hard work in a matter of seconds. Emma gasped and squealed when something cold hit her as well. _

_Rina furrowed her brows and turned around, avoiding a hit in the face from another snowball. She glared at the snowball once it hit the ground and when she looked up she saw a tall, thin boy wearing a brown cloak, a white woolen shirt and a small, brown open vest. He had tattered brown pants but it seemed to pull the outfit together in a way. The boy had shaggy brown hair and eyes, rather blushed cheeks and light skin. It was none other than Emma's older brother._

"Jackson Overland Frost!" _Rina glared at him, bending down to collect a ball of snow in her hands. "You are so dead!"_

"_Is that a threat, Irina?" Jack teased, avoiding Rina's snowball by hitting it with his favorite staff. "Surely you could do better."_

_The girl growled and hurled another snowball at Jack. The boy laughed, dodging the snowball and throwing one right at her. It hit her arm, causing Rina to drop the snowball she was aiming at him. She huffed and ran after Jack, making the boy laugh harder than before. Jack taunted and teased Rina and it only made Rina pick up her pace. She grabbed hold of Jack's cloak, nearly choking the boy, and pulled him back. Jack was stunned by Rina's actions and Rina took this chance to yell out: "Emma, _NOW_!"_

_Emma, who had been watching Rina chase Jack around, picked up a rather large snowball she had made and dumbed it on Jack's head, making the boy fall to the snow-covered ground. Rina released her hold on Jack's cloak and clutched her stomach, which began to hurt from laughing so hard. Emma joined her and it only made their giggle fits stronger when Jack rose, brushing the snow out of his face, and glared at them._

"_Very funny," Jack tried to say with a peeved tone but he ended up chuckling along with them._

"_Serves you right!" Emma stuck her tongue out at her brother and straightened up, patting the snow off her dress. "You almost destroyed our snowman!"_

"_Destroyed?" Jack scoffed, brushing the snow out of his hair. His face felt numb from the cold but he shrugged it off. It wasn't like it was a new feeling to him. He then used his staff to help him get back to his feet. "I only came to _improve_ it!"_

"_Yeah, right. What could you possibly have to improve our snowman?" Rina asked, folding her arms across her chest as she gave Jack a look. The boy turned his attention to her and quirked his brow. The mere action caused Rina's cheeks to flush and she immediately looked away, not wanting Jack to see. _

"_Now, Irina, do you _honestly_ believe that your snowman is complete without a hat and scarf?" Jack asked in a mocking tone, walking over to the place he was standing on before he decided to throw a snowball at Rina. On the floor sat a hat and scarf. "Like I said," Jack began, tossing the items at Rina and Emma. "I only came to help."_

_Rina pursed her lips and took the scarf, gingerly wrapping it around the snowman's neck, careful not to accidentally decapitate him. Emma reached for the snowman's head in order to put on his hat. The little girl's tongue stuck out of her lips in concentration as she stood on the tips of her toes to stick the hat on the snowman. When she finally got it on, she grinned with victory._

"_Now it's complete!" Emma grinned, clapping her hands in joy._

"_You're welcome," Jack said, nudging Rina with his staff, making the girl stumble to the side. Rina blushed and ran a hand through her hair, frowning. "I'm waiting," The boy bent forward with a grin, waiting for Rina to show her thanks._

"_Thank you for helping us complete our snowman, Jack," Rina mumbled under her breath, her face warming up. "We couldn't have done it without you. You're amazing." She added, repeating the words Jack made her say whenever he did something she didn't want him to do but ended up appreciating that he did it. It happened more than once already._

"_Now, Irina, that's not what I'm asking for," Jack chuckled, hooking his staff around Rina's waist and drawing the girl towards him. Rina gasped, not expecting Jack to haul her over, and opened her mouth to yell at him when she found his lips planting a soft kiss on hers. It didn't last long – it was just a peck yet it made her heart skip a beat and made her stomach feel like it had a million butterflies fluttering inside it. Jack pulled back and smirked when he saw he left Rina speechless. _

"_Yuck!" Emma wrinkled her nose, having seen the kiss. _

"_Yeah," Rina breathed out, dazed. "Yuck."_

Rina woke with a start when she felt something heavy fall on her lap. She bolted awake, heart beating rapidly against her chest, and she looked around Sophie's room. It was dark and quiet and the only light that shone was from the moon. The girl knitted her brows together and saw Sophie scrambling off her lap and out the door. Rina got to her feet and followed Sophie out and into Jamie's room.

"Sophie, what are you – _Whoa." _Rina gasped, looking at what she found in Jamie's room. She had expected to see Jamie fast asleep, hand still clutching onto his flashlight, but instead she saw a large rabbit on the floor with Abby, the Bennett's greyhound, beside it. Walking further into the room, Rina saw a large man snoring on Jamie's bed and Jamie lying against him. On the floor next to Jamie's bed was a woman dressed in feathers together with a smaller version of herself. Everyone was fast asleep.

"I must be dreaming," Rina whispered, stepping over the woman to run her hands through Jamie's hair. She checked if the boy had any injuries before looking over the different characters in his room. "That must be it," She continued, studying each and every person in the room. "Santa Claus… the Easter Bunny… The Tooth Fairy… What's going on?" Rina eyes then widened. "Jack? Are you around here?" She asked out loud. Maybe he brought them here. "Jack?"

When she heard no reply, Rina turned her attention back to Sophie. She watched as Sophie reached into Santa Claus's pocket and took out a magical snow globe.

"Sophie, put that down," Rina whispered, moving to approach the tot. "That's not yours."

"Pretty!" Sophie said, ignoring Rina's orders. She carried the globe over to the rabbit. "Easter Bunny!" Sophie said joyfully. "Rina! Easter Bunny!"

"Yes, baby, it's the Easter Bunny," Rina said softly. It was weird when she said it. She believed in the Easter Bunny and everyone else in the room but it was different when she could actually see them. It was a surreal and exciting feeling. "Please return that to Santa." Rina requested. The snow globe didn't look like a regular snow globe and she was worried about what it could do.

Once again, Sophie ignored Rina. "Hop! Hop! Hop!" The tot cheered, imitating a bunny's bounce. She then shook the globe. Rina watched in wonder as the globe revealed a beautiful image of the Easter Bunny's Warren. Sophie was delighted with what she saw and was just about to take the snow globe back to her room when she tripped. Rina immediately jumped to Sophie's side and helped the girl up when the globe smashed onto the floor.

Rina flinched when a flash of light emitted from the snow globe and when she opened her eyes she saw a magic portal in front of her. A warm breeze came from the portal and Sophie wriggled out of Rina's arms, approaching it.

"Sophie, don't –" Rina began, but it was too late. Sophie fell through the portal and, without thinking twice, Rina followed.

* * *

**Hey, guys! Here's Chapter Nine! **

**How did you like this chapter? I hope you enjoyed it :)**

**It took some time to come up with Rina's dream. I hope it was satisfactory (Wow, big words! -not really-)**

**Anyway, please tell me what you thought!**

**Hopefully Jack wasn't out of character or anything like that.**

**I'm still getting the hang of writing boys. **

**Okay, I'll leave you here. Maybe I'll see you all tomorrow with a new chapter? Let's keep our fingers crossed!**

**Don't forget to review and the like!**

**I really appreciate every single person who took the time to read my fic and leave a review. I also love that you guys added this fic to your favorites and followed it. It really means a lot.**

**Hopefully I don't have any typos and the like. I hate those things...**

**I only own what I own!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten:**

_Easter is about new beginnings, new life. Easter is about hope._

Even though she didn't want to admit it, Rina still remembered the first signs of Lyndi drifting away form her. Be it a change of wardrobe, the people she hung out with or how she began criticizing every little thing Rina did, the girl remembered everything because whatever Lyndi did or said during her "transformation", as Rina began to call it, it made Rina feel just a little bit smaller standing when she was with her.

One of the first signs of Lyndi's change happened on Easter Sunday.

Back when they were younger, Rina and Lyndi used to spend Easter Sunday together. Even when they were kids, Lyndi didn't really believe in the Easter Bunny but she still went on Easter Egg Hunts to humor Rina and hang out with her other friends for the day. She even had her own basket even though Rina was the one who looked for all the eggs.

Most of the time, the eggs Rina found went into Lyndi's basket because Lyndi didn't want to be empty handed by the end of the day.

"Look, Lyndi! I found a blue one!" Rina chirped showing the egg she found under the bush to Lyndi, an excited grin gracing her lips. It was almost lunchtime and the girls had spent most of their morning walking around the park, together with the other children in the village, looking for the eggs the Easter Bunny hid. Granted he hid them quite well this year, Rina still tried her best to find them.

"Isn't it pretty?" The girl cooed, marveling at her latest find. The basket by her feet was nearly filled to the brim with all the eggs she found.

"Uhuh, very nice, Rina."

"But you didn't even look at it," Rina pouted, knitting her brows together.

Lyndi was sitting on the bench with a couple of other girls in their batch. None of them had Easter baskets with them and it didn't look like they were going to go hunting either. In fact, they were wearing clothes that looked far too old for them and jewelry that looked absolutely priceless. Not fit for children their age.

"Lyndi, _look! _It's really pretty!" Rina urged, nearly shoving the egg in Lyndi's face, trying to get her attention.

The girls Lyndi was with giggled at Rina's antics and Lyndi rolled her eyes in exasperation. She glanced over at Rina. The latter was wearing her favorite Easter jumper with tights and boots and her hair was standing all over the place. It even had some twigs and leaves in it from when she crawled under one of the bushes to get a yellow egg. Lyndi then looked at the egg Rina was holding and snorted.

"It's just a blue egg, Rina," She said, giving a look to her friends who laughed. Rina's grin slowly turned into a frown. "Nothing special."

"But it's _blue!_" Blue was her absolute favorite color in the entire world.

"There's a load of blue eggs in your basket, darling," One of Lyndi's friends giggled, feigning a British accent. Rina looked at her oddly. The way the girl spoke offended Rina in a way. Her tone was snobbish and mocking.

"Who _is_ this girl, Lyndi?" Another asked, looking Rina up and down and smirking at the girl's appearance. She wondered how anyone could leave his or her house dressed like that. "She your little cousin or something?"

"Well–" Lyndi began to say, an embarrass blush forming on her cheeks. She didn't want them to know who Rina was to her. It was too embarrassing.

"I'm her best friend!" Rina said proudly, interrupting Lyndi. She placed the blue egg in her basket and lifted it off the ground. "We go Easter Egg Hunting every year, right Lyndi?"

The girls began laughing once more and commented on how cute Rina was. Rina looked over at them and wondered why they sounded so sinister even though the words that escaped their lips sounded like compliments. She looked over to Lyndi, wondering if she would help her look for more eggs or at least _accompany _her but the latter just frowned at Rina.

"I didn't know you went Easter Egg Hunting, Lyn," One of the girls chuckled under her breath, brushing her hair behind her ear to reveal a glimmering diamond stud. "That so…_adorable._"

"I don't." Lyndi said stiffly, standing up from the bench and patting down her new sequined skirt. The other girls stood up as well. Rina saw that some of them were wearing high-heeled shoes. It looked painful. "And it's not adorable, it's _childish._" She added, looking pointedly at Rina.

Rina felt herself shrink under Lyndi's gaze and she bit down on her lip nervously. Lyndi never seemed to have a problem with Easter Egg Hunting before. In fact, Lyndi's favorite part of Easter was eating the sweets at the end of the day. Rina reminded her of that and Lyndi's friends laughed again.

Lyndi's ears turned red with what looked to be anger and humiliation.

"Chocolate and candies will go straight to my thighs," she said, gesturing to her legs, which were exposed due to the length of her skirt. Rina wrinkled her nose. "You may not have a problem with it but I do. No man would like a girl with thunder thighs."

"And think about what they would do to your teeth!" A girl gasped, placing her hand on her cheek. Rina saw that her nails were painted a bright pink. "I wouldn't want to get ghastly braces."

"We also don't want chocolate sticking to our teeth! Remember what happened last time? I was so embarrassed I could just die!" Another exclaimed, eyes wide.

"But it's just for one day…" Rina mumbled, feeling quite foolish for trying to reason with the girls. Why wasn't Lyndi on her side anymore? What happened?

"It doesn't matter, Rina. Easter Egg Hunting is for kids. The girls and I are heading over to my house to watch movies. You want to come with?" Lyndi asked, placing her hands on her hips and cocking her brow at Rina. The girl noticed that Lyndi's eyebrows were thinner than before and wondered what she did to them. "Surely you rather watch a movie than collect those stupid eggs."

Rina licked her lips and ran her hand through her hair. She looked away from Lyndi and the girls' gaze and watched several kids run around the park, hunting for eggs with their friends. They looked so happy and Rina felt a pang of jealousy. At least they were having fun and not being attacked by the life-sized Barbie dolls. Lyndi cleared her throat and Rina turned her attention back to her best friend. An uneasy smiled formed on her lips and she took a step back away from them.

"Gee, Lyndi, that sounds awfully fun," Rina began, taking another step back. "But I think I'm going to stick back for another hour or two. There's still more eggs to find after all."

"Whatever," Lyndi shrugged, flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned to leave the park. The other girls quickly followed, leaving Rina alone. The girl watched her best friend leave and tried to ignore the very loud conversation she was having with the others. Unfortunately for her, it was hard to do since she heard her name being mentioned followed by laughter.

Once the girls turned a corner, Rina was able to move away from her spot.

The girl's brows knitted together and she walked around the park with a heavy heart. The morning seemed to be going so well but once Lyndi met up with those girls, she seemed to forget that Rina was there. It seemed like it was such a bother to acknowledge her talking. Rina didn't like being ignored by Lyndi but when the girls started talking, it seemed like being ignored was a better option.

"Whoa!" a young boy gasped, drawing Rina away from her thoughts. She looked down to see a little boy with unkempt brown hair and brown eyes as well. He had a round face and looked to be a few years younger than Rina. She recognized him as the boy living next door to her house. His name, unfortunately, escaped her.

"That's a lotta eggs you got there! How were you able to find them all?"

"Oh, I'm just lucky I guess," Rina grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

"That's amazing," The boy breathed out, eyes wide. "You think you can help me?" He then gestured to the basket in his hands and Rina saw that the boy only had five Easter Eggs in it.

"That would be great! I need a hunting buddy," Rina giggled, holding out her hand to the boy. "I'm Rina, by the way, Rina Snowe."

"Jamie Bennett," the boy told her, shaking her hand before dragging her off. "Come on! Before all the eggs run out!"

* * *

It was after the Boogeyman's attack where the Guardians found themselves back in the Globe Room at the North Pole, mourning the loss of their beloved Sandman. It was a solemn ceremony and Tooth knelt down to place the final candle to complete the circle surrounding Sandy's empty spot on the floor. The three Guardians, North, Tooth and Bunny, held hands, each having sad and heart broken looks in their eyes, while the elves bobbed their heads slowly to make the bells at the tip of their hats chime. Behind them stood the yetis. Even they were miserable at the news. They loved that little man and the dreams he gave them every night.

Without Sandy, who knows what would happen to the children once they closed their eyes at night?

Jack Frost sat against a window far from the ceremony. His hood covered his head and he used his finger to draw the Sandman on a frosted window. He let out a sigh when he finished. The Winter Spirit bit his lip and heard someone approach. It was none other than Nicholas St. North. The ceremony had ended just moments ago.

"Are you all right?" North asked the boy.

"I just wish I could've done something," Jack replied softly. He believed that it was his fault. If he hadn't convinced Sandy to come with him, then maybe, just maybe, he would still be with them.

North was taken back by what the Winter Spirit said. "Done something? Jack, you stood up to Pitch. You saved us."

"But Sandy wo–"

"Would be proud of what you did," North interrupted Jack, not wanting the boy to blame himself. If there was anyone to blame, it would be the Nightmare King.

Jack looked at the much older man and let out a sigh, nodding his head. North took this opportunity to tell Jack that no matter who he was in his past life, he is a Guardian in his life now.

"But how can I know who I am until I know who I was?"

"You will," North said to the boy, placing his hands on his large stomach. "I feel it in my belly."

This seemed to assure Jack for he followed North towards the Globe of Belief. Tooth and Bunny were standing in front of the Globe, watching the lights rapidly go out across the continents. The Tooth Fairy's brows knitted together in worry.

"Hey, buck up, ya sad sacks!" The Easter Bunny said, determined not to let all the lights disappear. "We can still turn this around! Easter's tomorrow! I need your help. I say we put out all the stops, and we get those little lights flickering again!"

* * *

"Sophie! Come back!" Rina called out to the girl, trying her best to keep up with the tot. She and Sophie had fallen through the magic portal and soon found themselves in a place that looked nothing like earth. Rina was absolutely amazed by the area and it didn't take long before Sophie decided to explore.

The land the magic portal took them to was grassy, colorful and it didn't look the least bit familiar. It looked like something that came out of storybook. Upon arriving, Rina marveled at the scenery, taking it all in, when Sophie suddenly ran away from her. The tot had found little eggs with legs (Rina was in awe) running around and she simply had to chase them.

After all, you don't see eggs walking around everyday. The eggs Sophie saw everyday were legless, in her refrigerator and she had them for breakfast.

When Rina finally caught up with Sophie, the little girl had several eggs in her arms.

"Look! Eggs!" Sophie grinned up at Rina, holding out the eggs she collected. The eggs took this as an opportunity to jump out of Sophie's arms and run away.

"Sophie! Please don't run!" Rina ran a hand through her hair and sighed in frustration before letting a small smile grace her lips, watching Sophie follow the eggs into a tunnel. It was tiring, trying to catch up with her, but Rina couldn't lie. She was having fun even though she was just following Sophie around to make sure she didn't hurt herself. "Legs, don't fail me now." She then muttered to herself, jogging into the tunnel.

The tunnel was dark, other than the light at the end, and Rina folded her arms behind her back, slowing down her pace. Surely a beautiful and wondrous place like this wouldn't bring any harm to the tot, right? When she thought about it, Sophie would most likely get hurt by tripping over her own two feet. The eggs looked harmless, seeming to be afraid of Sophie, and the large egg like structures Rina passed by just moments ago didn't look dangerous at all. They appeared to have smiling faces engraved on their surface and Rina took that as a good sign. She thought about turning back to appreciate what she saw before entering the tunnel when she heard the sounds of people charging.

"What is SHE doing HERE?" Someone yelled at the other end of the tunnel, making Rina run. Had Sophie gotten into trouble? When she was about to exit the tunnel, she caught sight of who were standing just outside of it. Hiding in the shadows, she blinked her eyes several times to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

Standing in front of Sophie was the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus along with two yetis and elves. Rina felt her heart skip a beat when she saw that they were holding out weapons. She then saw Jack Frost standing with them, lowering his staff, and Rina felt her cheeks flush, remembering the dream. Trying her best to push the thought away, the girl decided to think about what she should say. After all, her idols were awake and moving now and she had no idea what to say or do.

What do you say to someone who many told you didn't exist?

Rina watched as North's brows shot up at Bunny's question. He felt around his coat only to discover that his pocket was empty. "Snow Globe?" he suggested.

"Crikey!" Bunny exclaimed. "Somebody do something!"

"Don't look at me," Said Jack. "I'm invisible remember?"

Rina furrowed her brows and decided that it was time to make her presence known when another flood of white eggs came through the tunnel, picking her off her feet and bringing her out the tunnel. It felt weird being carried by a bunch of eggs and Rina squirmed uncomfortably. The eggs suddenly disappeared from under her and Rina fell on the grass with a _thump. _She groaned.

"Rina?" Jack asked, raising his brow at her while the Guardians looked at her in shock. How many children went through the magic portal?

"There's a bigger version of her!" Bunny sighed, running his paw down his face in exasperation. Rina bit back a laugh. This wasn't the first time someone compared her to Sophie.

"Err – Hi," Rina mumbled, running a hand through her hair, nervously. So much for making a good impression in front of them… The girl only succeeded in appearing sheepish.

"What are you doing here?" The Winter Spirit asked her, holding out a hand for her to take. Rina gratefully took it and was shocked at how easily Jack pulled her back to her feet. She smiled at him in thanks and dusted off the dirt on her jumper. When she turned to look back at the Guardians, they continued to stare at her with shock and confusion.

"Jack?" Rina asked in a quiet tone, taking a step closer to the Winter Spirit. "Are they who I think they are?"

"I told you they were real, didn't I?" Jack smirked, nudging Rina with his elbow. The girl frowned at him and nudged him back. "Well, you know who they are," The Winter Spirit began, gesturing to the Guardians with his staff. He then wrapped his arm around Rina's shoulders. "Guys, this is Rina Snowe, your number one fan."

* * *

**Hello! Here's Chapter 10 for all of you! I hope you guys enjoyed it :)**

**Sorry for the... three day absence?**

**I was a little busy with school and I also had some difficulty writing this Chapter for some reason.**

**I hope it was satisfactory...**

**ANYWAY, I forgot to mention this in the previous Chapter but I would like the thank my good friend RenakhiteInk for suggesting the name "Irina".**

**Also, hmm... I suddenly lost my train of thought.**

**Oh well.**

**Just in case you didn't get it, the first part of this Chapter is sort of like a flashback...**

**yeah. okay. I'm being awkward now.**

**Thanks for taking the time to read this fic!**

**ALSO, thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites and follows! I really appreciate them!**

**Sorry I couldn't thank you all personally because I really can't find the time. It sucks but that's life...**

**Sorry also for any typos or grammatical errors. I try my best to avoid them but... you know.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**and**

**I only own what I own!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

_We are very busy bringing joy to children. We don't have time for… children._

Irina sat quietly on the snow, not caring about how cold it felt against her skin, and looked straight at the frozen pond that lay in front of her. She marveled at how peaceful it looked and wondered if it was safe to skate or even walk on. It _looked _hard enough to stand on but sometimes you could never be sure. The girl brought her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them, and continued to gaze at the scenery. Though she saw the same thing every day, it never failed to amaze her.

Closing her eyes, Irina listened to what was happening around her. Since it was winter, the birds were long gone but if she tried hard enough, she could hear the children in her village running around and playing. Their laughter was like music. Irina loved playing with them, they were so lively and were full of bright ideas, but sometimes she liked to get away from them. Just have some time for herself to think.

After a few moments passed, she slowly opened her eyes and stared back at the pond. Gingerly, she got to her feet, brushed off her bottom, and slowly made her way towards the ice. She held out her hands for balance and tapped her foot on the ice to see if it would crack.

It didn't.

A joyous smile graced Irina's lips and she placed her other foot on the ice as well. She wobbled a bit and her feet slid due to the lack of friction but, lucky for her, she caught herself. The girl let out a small giggle and clumsily glided around the pond, sticking to the edge so that if it were to break, she could easily jump away from danger. She took two more steps when she heard some movement. Irina stopped what she was doing, nearly falling over in the process, and looked back to see nothing. She furrowed her brows and turned away only to fall back from shock.

Grinning in front of Irina was none other than her best friend, Jack Frost. The boy chuckled under his breath at Irina's glare and held out a hand to help her up. Irina pursed her lips, taking his hand. Jack made a move to pull Irina to her feet but before he could even do so, the latter tugged on his arm, pulling him down to the ice as well. Jack let out a gasp in shock and landed next to Irina with a thud. The girl's heart skipped a beat, not expecting him to fall so easily, and looked around them to see if the ice was cracking. To her relief, it was still intact.

"What are you doing here?" Irina huffed when she saw that Jack was unharmed. The boy pushed himself off the ice, his breath fogging, and sat down in front of her.

"Looking for you," Jack shrugged, smiling. Irina always looked cute when she was annoyed with him. The way her brows furrowed and created a crease on her forehead together with her large eyes and pout made Irina look more like a child throwing a tantrum rather than a teenager. "Emma and the others want to play." He added.

"Why don't you play with them?" Irina raised her brow in question. She moved away from the ice and sat down on the snow once more.

"They're asking for you," The boy followed Irina's lead, sitting beside her. The moment Jack joined Emma and their friends, they all asked for Irina. It made sense that they asked him, seeing as they _were _best friends, but sometimes Jack wondered if the kids knew that Irina wasn't always with him. Regardless, Jack knew where to look when the girl disappeared. "They say you have all of the best ideas."

Irina snorted and turned to look at Jack. "_You _have the best ideas. _I _just tell you when it's getting too dangerous. The kids find it funny when we quarrel." She laughed under her breath, remembering the last "fight" she and Jack had. At that time, she wanted so much to tear his head off but Jack and the kids just found her "angry face" amusing and didn't take her threats seriously.

"Ooh! _Quarrel. _Big word, Irina," Jack teased, receiving a blow on the arm from the girl. It didn't hurt too much. In fact, it barely nudged him to the side. Irina didn't have a very good punch. She couldn't even kill a mosquito let alone faze Jack.

"Shut up," Irina muttered, looking back at the pond. She stretched out her legs and pointed her toes towards the ice. She glided her feet across the surface, seeing if she could form some sort of image. Suddenly, she got an idea. "Why don't we skate here tomorrow? You could bring Emma!"

"Skate?" Jack mused, looking at the pond as well. It was a rather large pond – more lake than anything. In the summer and spring, Jack and the others found themselves swimming in it to get away from the heat. "I don't see why not! Emma would love it!"

"Just don't scare her," Irina gave him a look, standing up from the snow. This time, she trudged away from the pond. She heard Jack scramble to his feet to catch up to her.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Jack smirked, snatching the scarf Irina wrapped around her neck and ran off with it. Irina was stunned for a second, not sure about what had happened, before her face scrunched up. She balled her hands into fists and bolted after the boy.

"JAAAAAACK!"

* * *

Jack Frost was as quiet as a mouse as he crouched behind Rina and observed the girl as she worked alongside the yetis. She sat on a small hill; her blonde hair tied into a messy bun, and had an egg in one hand and a paintbrush in the other. He watched as she bobbed lightly in her place as if she were listening to a song and cocked a brow at her when she laughed softly to herself. She was an odd girl and that made him all the more interested in trying to figure her out.

It was an odd feeling Jack got when Rina saw him for the first time. He could still remember how fast his heart beat against his chest and the sense of hope that swelled in him. The Winter Spirit remembered the fright he gave Rina and how he practically made her cry but in the end was happy to see that Rina trusted him almost immediately. How she didn't push his hand away even though he was still invisible to her.

The way she looked straight at him, how her pale green eyes bore into his crystal blue ones, gave him a sense of familiarity. It was odd. Jack didn't know anything before he came out of the ice yet the way Rina looked at him and the way she talked to him was familiar. How they joked around and how they hung out on the roof was somewhat nostalgic and Jack didn't have a clue as to why.

Why could Rina see him even though she didn't have a clue as to who Jack Frost was other than an "expression"? Why didn't she run away the minute she saw his doodles on the frost on her window? Why was she so quick to trust him even though she couldn't see or hear him?

A billion questions ran through the Winter Spirit's mind and he had no idea what to do with them. He couldn't just ask Rina because chances are she didn't know. The Guardians just met her and Jack didn't feel comfortable asking them such questions when their main focus was to defeat Pitch, keep the children of the world safe and to have them continue believing in them. The Man in the Moon wouldn't be much help either since he's been nothing but tightlipped for the last three hundred years.

Jack groaned in frustration and decided that it was best to keep the thoughts and questions away. He needed to focus. Pitch was still out there and little by little the lights on the Globe of Belief were turning off. Easter was their last hope and Bunny was going to need all the help he can get to get all the eggs ready in time.

Looking away from Rina, not knowing what he was going to tell her if she were to suddenly turn around only to see him staring at her, Jack looked around the Warren. Bunnymund was hopping around, supervising everything and everyone to make sure that the preparations for Easter were going smoothly. Jack noticed that everywhere the rabbit stepped, flowers bloomed and beside his large feet, white eggs turned to color and the valley glittered like a rainbow.

Running around Bunny was none other than Sophie Bennett. The little tot simply adored him.

The Guardians split up and roamed around the Warren, trying to help prepare for Easter in any way that they can. The eggs marched in a single file into a multicolored stream. One of North's elves was watching the eggs and had lost his balance, falling into the stream with a splash. When he got out, he was just as colorful as the Easter Eggs and when the elf stuck out his tongue, much to his own amusement, it was multicolored as well. The eggs came out of the stream in the same orderly fashion when they came in and were now decorated with every color and pattern imaginable.

Jack jumped slightly in his place when the yeti beside Rina groaned in frustration, Bunny hopping away from him. The Winter Spirit raised his brow at the yeti and saw that he held a red egg in his hand and beside him stood a pile of the same colored eggs. Jack then snorted under his breath when he realized why the yeti was so upset. Bunnymund had asked the yeti to paint all the red eggs blue for they resembled Christmas too much.

"Poor guy," Jack muttered under his breath, chuckling, before he turned his attention towards Rina. In the girl's hand was a baby blue colored egg. The Winter Spirit stood up and slowly approached Rina, seeing that she was now concentrating on painting a snowflake on the egg. A sense of pride coursed through Jack when he saw this and an urge to surprise her came. He carefully bent down and placed his lips near her ear.

"Bunny isn't going to be happy with that egg," his cool breath whispered in the unsuspecting girl's ear. He smirked when he felt her jump beneath him and when he heard the squeal she tried to hold in.

"Don't do that!" Rina huffed, turning around to swat Jack away from her like he was some pesky mosquito. Jack held up his hands, blocking Rina's weak hits. The Winter Spirit let out a laugh when he saw how red her cheeks became.  
"It's not funny!"

"Then why am I laughing?" Jack teased, taking a step back to avoid another hit. Rina stumbled a bit, placing her hand on the grass to keep her balance, and glared up at him.

"Whatever," Rina stuck her tongue out and turned her attention back to the egg in her hand. To her relief, it didn't break. "Why wouldn't Bunny like it?" She then asked him, her brows knitting together. The girl had painted Easter Eggs back in school and her teacher and classmates always liked the designs she made. Maybe it was too amateur for the Easter Bunny?

"He like blue doesn't he?" Rina continued, glancing over to the yeti with the red eggs. He was sluggishly getting blue paint to paint over the eggs he worked so hard on.

"I just think the egg is too… how should I say this?_ Wintery_." Jack said, gesturing to the snowflake with his staff. He shot out small snowflakes at it, making Rina shiver from the cold. She looked up from the egg and squinted her eyes at the Winter Spirit.

"I don't think it's that," Rina placed the egg on the ground, watching it run away to join the rest. "Maybe it's too… how should I say this? _Jack._"

The Winter Spirit's eyes widened at Rina's comment and a slow smirk graced his lips before he moved to place his hand on his chest, over his heart. "That hurts, Rina. It really does. Right here." He pretended to cringe from pain.

"Uhuh, whatever you say, Jack," Rina rolled her eyes, snorting. She got to her feet and carelessly wiped her paint covered hands on her tights, dirtying them.

"And I was under the impression that you were on North's _Nice list _for a reason," Jack said, bringing his hand back down to his side. He dug his staff into the ground and leaned against it. Rina raised her brow at him. "What _nice _person hurts other people's feelings?"

"I'm… I'm on the _Nice list_?" Rina breathed out after a moment of shocked silence. Jack noticed that her pale green eyes were dancing with joy and her cheeks flushed. Somehow, her expression was like déjà vu and he tried his best to ignore the fact that his heart skipped a beat when Rina broke out into a smile.

"Is that all you got from what I said?" Jack snorted, shaking his head at Rina's obvious glee. "I thought you were confident that you were on the _Nice list_? Don't tell me," The Winter Spirit mocked gasp. "Were you _lying_?"

"I wasn't!" The girl blushed, pushing Jack. The Winter Spirit stumbled back, not expecting Rina to push him. He straightened up and watched the girl as she walked over to the stream the eggs were jumping into to be colored. He quickly followed her. "You could never be too sure and after recent events…"

Jack halted, staring at Rina with wide, confused eyes. The girl looked back at him and then at the ground. She brought her hand up to her arm and rubbed it as if she were cold. "Recent events?" Jack asked, taking a few steps forward so that he stood by the stream next to her. "What happened? Did you kick a puppy or something?"

"Kick a…._What_?" Rina breathed out a laugh, not believing what Jack said. Of all things to accuse her of, he thought she would kick a puppy? How ridiculous was that? "You're so weird!" She shook her head at him, still not getting over his guess. She didn't see it but a slow smile crept on Jack's lips as he watched her trying to catch her breath.

"I didn't kick a puppy, no." The girl said, regaining composure. "I just… uhm… said some pretty nasty things to Lyndi a while ago and I think I just lost my place on Santa's – Err – _North's _list."

"Lyndi? I thought she ditched you?" Jack cleared his throat, realizing how blunt he was. "I mean –"

"Well, when you left to go after that shadow thing, I found out that we were actually at Lyndi's house," Rina interrupted the Winter Spirit, already knowing what he meant. She didn't take any offense to what he had stated. It was, after all, true. "I was just about to leave when she invited… well, dragged me into her house. She had all these clothes lying around her room and had make-up on and curlers in her hair. Apparently, Michael, a schoolmate of ours, asked her out on a date and she needed my help."

"Lyndi was asking for your help?" The Winter Spirit frowned, his brows furrowing in confusion. "I thought she hated everything you wear?" Whenever he was around to listen, Lyndi always had a thing or two to say about Rina's outfit choice. He didn't see what the problem was. To him, Rina's clothes always seemed to fit her no matter how big they were.

"I know, right? Anyway, one thing led to another and she accused me for being jealous of her and I just… I just exploded," Rina's lips trembled at the memory and she began playing with her jumper's sleeves to distract herself. "I – I called her a bad…_horrible _friend and I just walked out on her. I never did that, Jack! I was always patient with her but she just went too far and…and….and… Oh, Jack! Could you possibly ask North if I'm still on the _Nice list_?"

Jack looked down at Rina, seeing as he _was _taller than her, and saw her looking up at him with her large eyes and trembling lips. Her hands clasped together, making her look like she was begging him, and he could see that she was near tears. He couldn't tell if she was sad about her fight with Lyndi or that there was a chance that she was now thought of as _naughty _by jolly ol' Saint Nick. Jack went with the latter.

"I don't think that it's possible for you to be naughty, Rina," Jack told her confidently. He brought his hand up to hers and unclasped her hands. Surprisingly, Rina moved to hold his hand, her touch warming his cold skin. "And with what happened with Lyndi," Jack continued when another surge of familiarity came, "It's about time you gave her a piece of your mind."

"But I was so _mean_," Rina emphasized her last word, her already large eyes widening. She sounded like an astonished child. Like the word itself was a _bad word. _

"With how she's been treating you, I think you should have said meaner words. Let it all out. You should have put in a curse or two in fact!"

"Naughty!" Rina suddenly exclaimed, prying her hand away from Jack's grasp and pointed an accusing finger at the Winter Spirit. "Suggesting that I say bad words? You are _so _naughty! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Kiss …. I didn't even say anything yet!" Jack barked a laugh at how shocked Rina looked. At least she was no longer worried.

"But the fact that you suggested it… Are _you _on the _Naughty list_?" The girl asked in a hushed tone, looking both left and right as if she were telling a secret. Jack mirrored her actions and crouched to the ground, staff still standing beside him. He too looked both sides once more and gestured Rina to copy him. She did.

"_Naughty list? _Hah!" Jack began, his accent uncanny to that of North's. "I hold record."

The Winter Spirit took Rina's stunned silence as a chance to scoop up the colorful water from the stream and splash it at her. This woke Rina and the girl gasped at the contact, bringing her hands up to wipe the water off. She looked down at her colored fingers and jumper sleeves and glared at Jack. The latter did nothing but laugh seeing as Rina's face was now purple, pink and blue with a touch of glitter. While he was laughing, Rina scooped up the water in her hands and threw it at the Winter Spirit.

Soon, the two found themselves painted head to toe in the Easter egg's paint and splashing around in the stream. Needless to say, when the Guardians saw the two, they wished they had a camera in hand to capture the moment.

* * *

**Hello! Here's Chapter 11 :)**

**Sorry for the long wait. This is my last week of school before the Christmas Break (In fact, it's my Christmas Part tomorrow) and for some odd reason I just couldn't find the inspiration to update.  
**

**I got the Rise of the Guardians video game and got some ideas but the words I wanted to say just weren't coming out until this very moment.  
**

**Hopefully this chapter was okay and that you guys enjoyed it. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long.  
**

**I really hope that Jack didn't seem out of character. I really try my best to portray him but sometimes I want to make him do or say things to get the chapter flow going but... err... you know.  
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**It is what it is.  
**

**Also, before I forget, I would like to dedicate this chapter to my mum who is always and forever will be awesome! I can't thank her enough (hi, mum!) and I would also like to give my thanks to my good friend, Reignstein, for helping me out big time!  
**

**Anyway, that's all I have to say.  
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**I, once again, hope that you enjoyed this chapter.  
**

**Please tell me what you guys thought of it! All your reviews mean a lot and it keeps me going! :)  
**

**Sorry for any typos or grammatical errors  
**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter  
**

**and  
**

**I only own what I own.  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve:**

The morning after the village's annual campfire, Irina found herself wiping the sleep out of her eyes and, with a large yawn, pushing her front door open, ready to seize the day. The cold winter air blew past her, sending a shiver down her spine, and the girl began trudging through the snow in search for her friends.

It was odd that her friends wanted to meet up so early in the morning after the little sleep they got the night before. They were the kind of people who could still function well with a few hours of sleep while Irina was known to doze off in an instant if she were left alone with no one or nothing to steal her attention.

Irina passed by the burned out logs from the campfire and was greeted by some of the adults who were out and about. She gave them a small smile, not having the energy to use her voice, and continued on her search for her friends. After a few moments, she caught sight of a group of girls huddled behind a small hill, their backs turned to her. They were quietly giggling amongst themselves and pushing each other in a teasing manner. Irina wondered if she should disturb them and was just about to turn back when one of the girls took notice of her. The girl waved her over.

"What are you doing?" Irina asked, trying to see what they were all giggling about. She wasn't given the chance to look for another girl tugged hard on her scarf, pulling her down to the snow with them. Irina gagged and was immediately shushed. "What are we doing?" She asked in a whisper, not wanting to get into trouble with them.

"Just…," Cheri, the girl who waved her over, began with a smile, looking over the small hill once more. "Observing," she ended with a dreamy sigh.

"Observing what exactly?" Irina huffed, not liking that her friend chose to be vague. She furrowed her brows when no one answered her question and she peered over the hill along with them. When she saw what they were looking at, she blinked with confusion. "Why are we watching Jack play with the kids?"

"_Shhh!_" Dahlia, the one who pulled on her scarf, hissed. "He might hear you!"

Irina raised her brow at Dahlia and then looked over to Freya and Gayle, hoping that they would give her an answer but the two were too busy swooning over Jack. They had their hands clamped together, hopeful smiles on their lips, blush on their cheeks, and sighed every few seconds. Irina was somewhat used to Jack having this kind of effect on her friends but what she could never get used to was how they reacted when they heard Jack's laugh. The moment the thought passed Irina's mind, her four friends held in squeals when Jack's chuckle rang through the air.

It amazed Irina to no end on how they were able to distinctly hear Jack's laugh when there were kids giggling along with him.

"Is this why you called me over?" Irina asked after a few moments of watching Jack running around, throwing snowballs at the kids and getting hit in return. Her eyes were beginning to droop and she tried her best to stifle a yawn. "Are we just going to sit here and watch Jack? Girls, we see him every day. This is nothing new."

"No, Irina, _you _see him every day," Cheri began, glancing over at the girl. Irina as shocked at what she said. "This is one of those rare moments when you guys _aren't_ together."

"Most of the time when you two are apart, he's busy looking for you," Freya added when Irina gave them a confused stare. "The boy follows you around like a lost puppy."

"Not really," said Gayle, nudging Freya. The latter pouted and pushed Gayle back. Gayle wrinkled her nose at her but continued what she was saying. "Jack may look as cute as a puppy but he doesn't follow her around like a lost one."

Dahlia nodded in agreement, joining in the conversation. "He's like a guard dog," she paused, a sigh escaping her lips. "A really, really attractive guard dog…"

"Okay... You all are freaking me out a little bit," Irina let out a soft laugh, keeping her voice as quiet as her friends'. They were very keen on keeping their presence hidden. She bet that they didn't think of what they would do or say if Jack or the kids caught sight of them. "This is Jack we're talking about!"

"Yeah. Jack. The hottest boy in the village," Dahlia said, a blush decorating her cheeks.

"And the sweetest," Cheri added, swaying slightly in her place.

"Don't forget funny!" Freya chirped, grinning. She was always the loudest to laugh whenever Jack did or said something funny. Irina understood that Jack was never boring but sometimes, sometimes Freya just needed to calm down when Jack joked. "He's _so_ funny…"

"And he's _so _good with children," Gayle sighed, looking back at Jack and the kids. She had this goofy looking smile on her face and she kept batting her eyelashes like she couldn't believe what she was seeing in front of her. "There's nothing more attractive than a man who's good with kids."

"_Yeah…._" The three girls agreed with dreamy like voices. Irina pursed her lips and looked back at Jack and the others.

Don't get her wrong. Irina was very aware of how good looking Jack was and she would be lying if she ever said that she didn't laugh at something Jack had said or done. She could see where her friends were coming from. There wasn't a moment where Jack wasn't able to make her heart skip a beat or her cheeks flush. Jack always had this sort of affect on her and Irina was somewhat happy to see that she wasn't the only one reacting this way to Jack.

Nevertheless, Irina's friends were beginning to scare her.

"Uhm, girls?" Irina cleared her throat, bringing their attention back to her. "Are we going to stare at Jack all day?"

They looked at each other and Irina was so sure that they were having a mental conversation. The girl raised her brows at them and waited patiently for an answer. After a few seconds, all four girls looked back at her and simultaneously nodded their heads. Irina let out a sigh.

"Seriously?" Irina muttered, disbelieving. "Surely it would be better to _hang out_ with Jack!"

"Easy for you to say, Irina," Freya laughed, running a hand through her hair. "Jack adores you!"

"Don't be silly," Irina snorted at the thought. "We're just really good friends."

"_Really good friends!_" Gayle nearly exclaimed. She took a quick glance towards Jack and the others and was happy to see that they were still pretty much in their own world, too distracted with their games to even hear what they were talking about.

"If that's what you call friendship then I want one just like it," Cheri mumbled, earning a laugh from all the girls.

"I don't think 'really good friends' do what you two do," said Dahlia, a smirk gracing her lips. Irina gave a questioning look, not knowing what she was talking about. Dahlia saw this and rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me… you don't know?"

"Don't know what?"

"I saw you two kiss the other day."

"YOU GUYS KISSED?!" Freya yelled out, obviously not knowing this little fact. Dahlia, Gayle and Cheri lunged at her, pinning her to the snowy ground, hands over her mouth while Irina stared down at her in utter horror.

Irina felt her cheeks heat up, not believing what Freya had just done. Maybe she just imagined Freya yelling. Maybe Dahlia hadn't said anything yet and she just pictured what her friend was going to answer. Maybe this whole conversation was just a dream and Irina was still tucked under her blankets, completely knackered from the night's events.

Unfortunately for her, "maybe" wasn't working for Irina noticed that the laughter in the air was gone and daring to look past the kill, much to her embarrassment, Jack and the kids were now starring at her. Dahlia, Gayle, Cheri and Freya were out of sight seeing as they were still on the ground, dead quiet. Irina sucked in a breath and felt her cheeks burn ten times over when she saw Jack sending her a smug look. He didn't look the least bit phased at Freya's exclamation.

"I should have stayed in bed…." Irina mumbled, running her hand through her hair, wondering what she should do next.

* * *

"Where do I put her?" Jack whispered, looking over to Rina who was peering outside Sophie's door. They had just arrived at Burgess and miraculously entered the Bennett's house without harm or sound. Sure, they struggled with transportation since Jack had to hold onto the snoozing tot all the while Rina had to hold on to him as the wind blew them to the quiet village, but somehow they managed.

"Just tuck her in bed," Rina replied in a hushed tone, looking out Sophie's door. She stuck her head through a small crack and looked both left and right to see if Mrs. Bennett was around. She could see that the light downstairs was on so she quietly moved away from the door and closed it with a _click. _Lucky for her, Mrs. Bennett had yet to check up on her kids for the night.

The girl moved to pick up Sophie's stuffed animals, not hearing Jack's silent struggle to get Sophie to let go of him, and she was just about to put them back on the shelf when she heard a _thud. _Turning back, Rina saw that Sophie was now on the floor, face on her rug and butt sticking out. The tot's mouth hung agape as she snored softly. Rina's brows knitted together and she looked over at Jack. Deep inside, Rina's was laughing but since she didn't want to wake anyone up or attract unwanted attention, the girl was left speechless.

"Whoops," Jack muttered with a small flinch and mischievous smile. Rina raised her brow at him and made a move to pick Sophie up when they heard Mrs. Bennett coming up the staircase.

"Sophie?" Mrs. Bennett's voice grew louder with every step. "Is that you?"

The Winter Spirit panicked at the sound of Mrs. Bennett's voice and did the first thing that came to his mind. He grabbed hold of Sophie's blanket and tossed it over her small body. Then he dropped one of her toys next to her. Rina rolled her eyes at his actions and turned to Sophie's door.

"Rina!" Mrs. Bennett gasped when Rina opened the door just as she was about to place her hand on the doorknob. "You scared me. What are you still doing up?"

"Good Evening, Mrs. Bennett," Rina feigned a yawn and was happy at the fact that Mrs. Bennett couldn't see or hear Jack since the Winter Spirit was snickering at Rina's acting. The girl couldn't even pretend to be sleepy! "What are you doing up?"

"I believe I just asked you that," The woman chuckled. It was obvious to her that Rina didn't exactly just wake up. "I heard something fall. Is Sophie alright?"

"Alright?" Rina wanted so much to glance back at the tot but knew that if she did that, Mrs. Bennett would see that her child was now snoozing on the floor. How in the world was she going to explain that? _Oh, Jack Frost dropped her and instead of picking her up like a _sensible _person, he thought it would be best to just put a blanket on her. _"Of course she's alright. Why wouldn't she be?"

"Oh okay. I just thought she fell out of bed again," Mrs. Bennett mused, nodding her head. (_Again? _Rina thought, hoping that her facial expression remained the same) "Well, I'll just head back downstairs. Have a lot of things to do. Try to get some rest, Rina. It's Easter tomorrow. I know how you love to start early on those Egg Hunts."

"Will do, Mrs. Bennett! Good night!" Rina grinned, closing the door. She turned to Jack as she leaned against the door. "Aren't you going to put her back?" She asked the Winter Spirit, gesturing towards Sophie who was still on the floor.

"What? She looks comfortable," Jack stated, moving away from the bed and closer to the window. "Anyway, Baby Tooth and I should probably head back now. Don't want to keep the Guardians waiting."

"I thought you were a Guardian too?" Rina raised her brow at the Winter Spirit, watching as he stepped out of Sophie's window, Baby Tooth fluttering after him. Jack looked back at her.

"Guardian? I don't think so," He said, giving her a small smile.

"Why not?"

"It's just not my thing," Jack shrugged his shoulder, getting ready to summon the wind to bring him and Baby Tooth back. He was just about to jump off when suddenly a voice called out.

_Jack!_

"Did… you just call me?" The Winter Spirit asked, unsure. He was looking right at Rina when the voice called out. It sounded so much like her yet her mouth didn't move. Rina's brows knitted together in confusion. She had not heard the voice and didn't know what Jack was talking about. Slowly, she shook her head.

_Jack!_

The voice called out once more. It was like a memory. So loud and clear. The Winter Spirit looked around, trying to find out who was calling out to him. His attention was immediately drawn towards the forest near the Bennett's house. He felt something tug him towards it. It was calling for him.

"Jack?" Rina's voice brought him back to reality. He turned his attention to her yet he still felt something tugging him towards the forest. "Are you okay?"

"I –" Jack began when the voice called again. He could no longer ignore it. "I gotta go."

The Winter Spirit zoomed towards the forest, not hearing Rina's surprised yelp, and the voice continued to call out to him. Baby Tooth was just as shocked as Rina but lucky for the Mini Fairy, she had wings to help her keep up with the Winter Spirit. Jack followed the voice, sprinting through the trees until he reached a clearing. In the center of the meadow was a child's old bed. It was broken and rotten and was very out of place in the forest.

Baby Tooth shivered at the sight of the mysterious bed and tugged on Jack's hoodie, trying to drag him out of the forest. The bed practically screamed bad news. It was best to head back to the Guardians like they had originally planned.

"Don't worry," Jack tried to assure the Mini Fairy. "There's still time." There was no way he was leaving Burgess without finding out who was calling him and why the voice sounded so familiar.

Jack held up his staff and whacked the bed, breaking it. The wood immediately fell apart upon impact and revealed a dark, deep hole in the ground. The voice called Jack's name once more and with a shrug, Jack jumped in. Baby Tooth stayed close behind no matter how dangerous it was for the both of them.

Little did they know what was in store for them once they reached the end of the hole.

* * *

**Here's Chapter 12! I hope you guys enjoyed it :)**

**Sorry it's a little shorter than the last chapter but hey, at least I updated faster than before! That must count for something...  
**

**Does it? Oh well.  
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**Anyway, I hope you liked the little "Back in the Past" part in the beginning. I'm going to be putting a lot of that in this story to give a little insight on Jack and Irina's relationship. Don't worry, there's going to be plenty of Jack and Rina too. Just be patient.  
**

**Speaking of Jack and Rina. Sorry they don't really have a cute scene thing in this chapter... Actually, when I think about it, this chapter is quite... not as entertaining as the others... Sorry about that.  
**

**I'll do better next time. I promise.  
**

**Okay, enough of the pity party. I should finish up this Author's Note now.  
**

**Thanks for taking the time to read and review this fic! It really means a lot :)  
**

**I really hope you enjoyed reading this.  
**

**Please tell me what you guys thought! Your opinions really matter.  
**

**Sorry for any typos, grammatical errors and the like  
**

**stay tuned for the next chapter  
**

**and  
**

**I only own what I own.  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen:**

Irina couldn't believe it. She just couldn't. Jack Frost couldn't be gone. This must be some kind of sick prank he was pulling. He was just joking around, right? It was all part of his plan, wasn't it? It was so like Jack to pull a stunt that would bring Irina to tears.

After all, this wouldn't be the first time he's done it.

It happened so often that Irina memorized his pattern: Jack would do something that will nearly cause her to have a heart attack. Once she begins crying, Jack will be by her side, apologizing. Then would tell her it was all a joke, that he didn't mean to hurt her and that he was sorry. In the end, Irina forgives him because she couldn't stay mad at him. It was near impossible.

This was just one of his jokes, right?

She was already crying, all Jack had to do now was to reveal himself and apologize.

He just had to because Irina refused to believe that she was never going to see Jack again.

Everything happened so fast. It seemed like it was only yesterday when Irina suggested that they head out to the pond to ice skate. It seemed like such a safe idea at that time. The ice appeared to be sturdy enough. She _was _walking on it. Jack _did _fall on it. It didn't break so it was perfect to skate on, right?

Irina could still remember the day's events clearly.

She had woken up extra early; well, earlier than normal, so that she could make it to the pond in time when her mother asked her to help clean the house. Apparently, the cold and snow had ruined a certain number of their things and Irina had to help her mother fix them. The woman told her child that Jack and Emma could wait.

According to her, the ice wasn't going anywhere.

Irina, not wanting to get into a fight with her mother for it would just waste more of their time, followed and did everything she had been tasked to do.

When they had finished, Irina wanted so much to bolt out the door, ice skating shoes in hand, but her mother insisted that she dress out of her dirty clothes and put on something warmer. Once again, Irina did what she was told and before her mother knew it, her child ran out the door like a madman.

Irina ignored the cold wind biting her cheeks and grabbed hold of her scarf, not finding the time to put it on properly, as she speedily ran into the forest. She sprinted through the trees and jumped over roots. She stumbled a few times but managed to catch herself. Falling would waste time and she was already really, _really _late.

By the time Irina caught sight of Jack and Emma standing on the ice, she was out of breath. Irina watched the brother and sister stand a little away from each other and she wondered what they were doing because they were obviously not skating. She carefully wrapped her scarf around her neck, watching Jack and Emma stare at each other. The girl saw Jack straighten up a bit and when she was about to take a step towards them, something unbelievable happened.

Jack Frost fell through the ice.

* * *

After Jack and Baby Tooth jumped into the hole, they passed through several tunnels until they reached a huge underground cavern. With every step the Winter Spirit took, Baby Tooth tugged on his hoodie, trying her very best to get him to come back with her. The Mini Fairy was so persistent that she almost believed that she was strong enough to drag the boy with her if she tried hard enough. Unfortunately for her, Jack was determined to find the source of the voice.

"Baby Tooth, come on! I have to find out what that is," Jack explained, jerking away from the Mini Fairy.

When Baby Tooth stopped tugging on Jack's hoodie, the two of them continued their way. The farther they ventured, the Winter Spirit realized that the cavern they entered was no ordinary cavern.

It was none other than the Nightmare King's Lair.

Before Jack could even _consider _turning back, he began to hear familiar chirping sounds and when he reached a point where the tunnel broke off (if he were a normal boy, he would have fallen right off if he weren't paying attention), he saw Tooth's Mini Fairies trapped in cages. The Mini Fairies caught sight of Jack and their chirping grew louder, begging him to rescue them. Along the walls, The Winter Spirit saw, the boxes of stolen teeth were stacked like pirate treasure. Heaps of teeth were piled up in the center of the room.

Jack jumped off the edge of the tunnel and flew towards one of the cages, grabbing hold of the bars and peered inside it. "_Shhh!_" He told the little fairies in hopes of calming them down. They looked so frightened. "Keep it down. I'm gonna get you out of here, just as soon as I –"

_Jack….Jack…._

The voice came back, calling Jack's name. The Winter Spirit looked away from the Mini Fairies and shook his head.

_Jack…_

The voice called once more.

It seemed to be coming from one of the closest mounds of baby teeth.

The Winter Spirit flew away from the cage and landed on the mound of teeth the voice was coming from. He dropped his staff to his side and began searching through the baby teeth, trying to find the source of the voice. Jack was on his knees, tossing teeth case after teeth case behind his back, ignoring the insistent chirping of the Mini Fairies and Baby Tooth's frantic tugs at his hoodie. The Winter Spirit just had to find the baby teeth that held the keys to his lost memories. He picked up a case that was named Michael and then there was Dahlia and Freya and Cheri. There was also a John and Cameron and Alex and Gayle.

There were simply too many teeth to look through and there were several more mounds surrounding the one Jack was on but the Winter Spirit wasn't going to stop until he found his.

Suddenly the cavern began to darken and when Jack noticed this, he raised his head only to discover Pitch's shadow hovering above him.

"Looking for something?" The Boogeyman asked, his shadowing moving around the walls before disappearing into a narrow cramped hallway. He cackled when Jack raised his staff and began to follow him. "Don't be afraid, Jack," he said. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Afraid?" Jack scoffed as he continued searching for Pitch. "I'm not afraid of you."

"Maybe not…But you _are _afraid of something."

"You think so, huh?" Jack asked.

Pitch's shadow then moved to a bridge above Jack's head. Shadows fell everywhere.

"I _know _so. It's the one thing I _always _know," The Nightmare King stepped into the light and faced the Winter Spirit. "People's greatest fears. Yours is that no one will ever believe in you."

At Pitch's statement, the Winter Spirit felt a surge of panic run through him. Sure, he was a confident and slightly cocky boy who would do anything to have a little fun. Cancel school? Why not? As long as he can see that the kids were enjoying the snow days he brought, it was all worth it. Sabotage Bunny's Egg Hunts? Jack didn't see anything wrong with that! It was an opportunity to extend his winter magic along with the fact that he can annoy the Easter Kangaroo. It was like hitting two birds with one stone!

If anyone could see Jack, they would think that he wasn't afraid of anything. He was fearless.

Jack wasn't stupid though. He knew he wasn't as brave as he would like people to believe. He knew he had a fear. Everyone did. The Winter Spirit just didn't know how Pitch knew. It was his deepest darkest secret. This was bad. Jack needed to find a way out. He had to escape. The shadows in the cave began to surround him and it seemed like everything was spinning. What he thought was the wall was actually the floor. Jack felt his heart beat rapidly against his chest as he looked every which way, desperate to find an exit.

Suddenly, a thought crossed Jack's mind. Granted, it wasn't going to help him much; at least it would buy him some time. Maybe he can stall Pitch long enough for him to find a way out. It was worth a try.

"You're wrong," Jack tried to keep his voice leveled. If it wavered, his whole plan (if he could call it a plan) would fail. "Someone believes in me."

"Someone, eh?" Pitch mused, looking down at the Winter Spirit. "Do you mean little Rina?" Jack remained silent. "Do you honestly believe that Rina would continue to believe in you after I'm done with her?"

"Done with her?" Jack asked, his hold on his staff tightening. He glared at Pitch, no longer feeling afraid. "What did you do?"

"Nothing…_yet. _You see, little Rina plays an important role in what I have planned," The Nightmare King grinned evilly. "Someone with so much belief in her would create such a large impact on you Guardians when she stops. Once I crush her spirit, there will be no more hope for you all." Pitch paused. "In fact, I should make her one of my own. Wouldn't she be a lovely _Nightmare Princess_?"

"You stay away from her!" Jack yelled, lunging at Pitch. The Boogeyman saw this coming and immediately disappeared, causing Jack to hit the wall. The Winter Spirit groaned but he was immediately back on his feet, eyes looking all over the cave in search for the Nightmare King.

"And you say you're not afraid," Pitch's voice boomed throughout his Lair. "You may not be afraid of me, Jack, but you are afraid of many things. You may not want to admit it out loud but I know. You're afraid of never being believed in, you're afraid of little Rina getting hurt and worst of all, you're afraid you'll never know _why. _Why _you_? Why were you chosen to be like this? Why do you feel funny whenever you're around the girl? Why does her presence feel nostalgic? Why does little Rina believe in you when she didn't even know who you were in the first place? Why? Why? _Why?_"

Another surge went through Jack and at that moment, he found an exit. Unfortunately, it was closed off with bricks. He turned around and saw Pitch's shadow move in closer.

"Well, fear not, for the answer to that is right here." The Boogeyman held out a tooth box towards the Winter Spirit. The box had a picture of a little boy and the name _Jack Frost _was written on it. "Do you want them, Jack? Your memories?"

* * *

It was already late afternoon in Burgess and none of the kids had found any of the Easter Bunny's Eggs! At first they thought that the Easter Bunny had hid them really well this year but after a few hours of searching, they began to lose hope of ever finding an egg. Not even Rina, who was known for being the first person to find an egg, had any in her basket.

In fact, when they thought about, the girl looked out of sorts this Easter Sunday. She had left her house dressed in her typical Easter jumper (it was slightly dirtied with paint and glitter), black skirt, tights and boots and had her basket in hand but the look on her face was different. It was like something was haunting her. When asked what was wrong, the girl merely sent the person a smile and began her search for the Easter Eggs.

It was obvious that Rina used the Easter Egg Hunt as a distraction from her thoughts and at first it seemed like it was working but when she found none hidden under the bushes or behind the trees, the haunted look returned to her face and it was taking a toll on her actions. She had lost her energy and was now dragging her feet wherever the kids went.

Jamie, who was still determined to have at least one egg in his basket, now stood on a ladder, searching for Easter Eggs in the rain gutters around his house. It was a foolish place to hide some eggs but the kid was running out of ideas. If he couldn't find any in the gutters, he would search in the toilets, under the sink and even in the trash bin. He would look anywhere and everywhere for those eggs.

The ladder Jamie stood on began to wobble and before he could ask one of his friends to hold onto it, the ladder toppled over.

"_Whoaaa, whoa, whoa, aaaah!" _Jamie yelled out when the ladder fell from beneath his feet. He immediately grabbed hold of the gutter for support but it wasn't able to hold his weight and it broke loose causing Jamie to crash down into a mound of snow.

The boy groaned and expected Rina to help him up, or maybe at least laugh before asking how he was, but for some odd reason, she wasn't approaching him. Rising, Jamie dusted snow off his back and looked over to the girl. She was sitting on his front porch, starring at his fence. Her Easter basket was on the floor and her normally large eyes were now half lidded, as if she were falling asleep. Jamie was concerned about Rina and thought that maybe the egg he found would cheer her up but on second look, the Easter Egg he thought he saw turned out to be a dirty old tennis ball. .

"Let's check the park again," Jamie suggested, not losing hope.

"Really?" asked Caleb as he picked up his empty basket.

"For what? The Easter Bunny?" Claude added, following his brother's actions.

"Guys, I told you," Jamie said, ignoring his friends' annoyed expressions and exasperated tones. "I saw him! He's way bigger than I thought, and he's got these cool boomerang things –"

"Ah, man, seriously?" Claude rolled his eyes, not in the mood to hear any more of what Jamie had to say.

Jamie frowned, not believing what he was hearing. "What happened to you guys?" he asked, casting a look at Rina. Why wasn't she backing him up on this? Why was she just sitting and starring? Doesn't she believe anymore?

"It was a dream," Caleb explained, tired of hearing Jamie talk about the Easter Bunny and such. "You should be happy you still get dreams like that and not –"

"Nightmares," Cupcake finished his sentence.

With that, the others turned to walk away. They were sick and tired of hunting for the Easter Eggs and decided it was better to head home. Not even the snow could keep them outside. Pippa stayed behind and looked down at Jamie, sighing. "Forget it, Jamie. There's no Easter this year."

Jamie watched his friends leave him and Rina and he held onto his empty Easter basket. "He really is real," he muttered to himself. "I know he is," he paused, looking over to Rina. "You still believe in him, right, Rina?"

The girl in question jerked at the mention of her name and she blinked rapidly as if the mere action would get rid of her clouding thoughts. She ran a hand through her hair and looked around her, seeing Jamie standing alone.

"Believe in who?" she asked him slowly.

"The Easter Bunny!"

"Of course I do," Rina furrowed her brows, looking around once more as if she didn't want to believe her own eyes. Where had all of Jamie's friends gone? She stood up and walked over to Jamie, looking into his basket. Why was there a dirty tennis ball inside? What happened after she sat down?

"It doesn't seem like it," Jamie mumbled, picking up the tennis ball and throwing it against the fence. It bounced off and fell into the snow.

"I'm sorry, Jamie," the girl sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I just… I just didn't sleep well last night."

"Nightmares?" Jamie asked, picking up his basket and placing it on his porch, Rina followed his actions.

"How'd you know?" She had woken up with a start and was startled to find out that she was crying. She couldn't remember what happened in her dream. All she knew was that it was absolutely frightening and that she never wanted it to happen again. She was used to having such pleasant dreams and when she had nightmares, none of them were as scary as the one she had. It made her hands shake and her heart clench. It was absolutely haunting.

"Everyone's been getting them," Jamie replied. "Pippa says there's no Easter this year. I can't believe it."

Rina frowned at what Jamie said and placed at hand on his head, ruffling his hair. The boy protested, swatting her hand away and this made Rina grin. She stuck her tongue out at him and picked up their baskets, handing him his.

"Nonsense, Easter can't be canceled!" Rina said, suddenly full of energy, as she took Jamie's hand in hers and dragged him towards the sidewalk and into the deserted street. "I'm sure Bunny is just playing a trick on us."

"What makes you so sure?"

_Cause I helped him prepare the eggs! _"Just trust me. You believe in him, right?"

"Of course!"

"Then believe _me _when I say that Easter is not canceled!"

A grin graced Jamie's lips and Rina felt a sense of pride well up in her. They quickly made their way towards the park and decided to split up so that they could cover more ground and be more focused on finding the eggs. Jamie began searching high and low for the eggs and Rina did the same. She was looking under a bush when she heard a high pitch laugh. A shiver ran down her spine. Looking back, Rina saw Lyndi and Michael walking around the park. Their hands were interlaced and Lyndi seemed to be laughing at every single thing Michael was saying. Rina rolled her eyes at the sight and decided to head over to the nearby forest.

Maybe Bunny hid the eggs under a tree root or something.

The moment Rina entered the forest, something whooshed past her. She stumbled back from shock and wondered if it was Bunny running around, hiding eggs. Rina remembered Jack telling her that Bunny was the one who interrupted them last night and decided that she would follow the figure. She jumped over roots and ducked under branches. The deeper she went, the darker it became. Rina suddenly felt scared and when she turned to leave, a large shadow blocked her way. The girl fell back, landing on the snow with a _thud _as more shadows surrounded her.

"Wh – what's going on?" Rina stuttered out, trying to scramble away from the shadows but they continued to swarm her. They grabbed at her arms and legs and enveloped her in a hug. The girl made a move to scream for help but one shadow covered her mouth and Rina felt herself being sucked into the darkness.

The last thing she heard was an eerie voice say:_ "Welcome, my little Nightmare Princess."_

* * *

__**And here's Chapter 13!**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It's a little longer than usual but hey, I might not be updating tomorrow or the day after because it's... well... Christmas!  
**

**Let's take this Chapter as my Christmas gift to all of you!  
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**Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting this fic.  
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**I know it can be a bit confusing at times with the whole Irina-Rina thing and such but I promise it will all be explained later :) Just be patient with me.  
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**Anyway, I don't think I have anymore to say because I'm really sleepy and I should hit the hay now.  
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**So once again I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter  
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**Please tell me what you thought, your opinion matters  
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**Sorry for any typos, grammatical errors and the like  
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**Stay tuned for the next chapter  
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**and  
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**I only own what I own!  
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	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen:**

If you were to ask the village people to look at Jack Frost and Irina Snowe and say the first thing that would come to their mind at the sight of the two, they would say that there were no closer friends than the two of them. It was rare to see one without the other – they were stuck at the hip!

Jack would always drag Irina out to play or take part in his shenanigans and whenever Irina separated herself from the rest of the world, Jack made it a point to find her. Early in the morning, if Irina actually woke up, she would go down to Jack's house and drag him with her to explore the forest, maybe even pick some berries if they were in season. At night, Jack would walk Irina back to her own home and sometimes, when it was late and cold, he would go by her window and they would talk until the sun began to rise.

Even though the two were nearly complete opposites, they got along well. In fact, the village people were so used to seeing the two together, acting as if they were in their own little world, that they were all set on the idea that Jack and Irina would fall in love and some day get married.

(If you were to ask them about the second thing that would come to their mind, they would probably say was that the two were the village lovebirds)

Of course the latter never happened due to the unfortunate incident that happened by the pond.

But before the incident by the pond and way before Jack and Irina fell in love, Jack and Irina weren't exactly on good terms with each other from the start. They may have known some things about each other, like who their parents were and what they did around the village, but that didn't necessarily help them get along when they first met.

Back then, they, mostly Irina, wanted so much to claw each other's eyes out because they were just so different!

Before they became friends, Irina was always so serious. She was not one to talk or "hang out" with a lot of people. She got along well with the villagers and had a handful of friends but if she had to choose between spending her free time with Dahlia, Cheri, Freya and Gale, and heading over by the large tree by the pond to sketch, she would choose the latter.

Irina loved her time alone because that meant she was in charge of everything. No one was there to tell her to pick berries or fetch logs for the fire place. She didn't have to cook dinner or fix her bed. Don't get her wrong; Irina wasn't the kind of girl who disliked rules. She actually lived by them for it gave her a sense of order but sometimes the girl just needed space. Whenever she had some time to herself, Irina would just lie against the large tree by the pond and sketch until there was no longer any paper to sketch on.

Jack, on the other hand, was a kid at heart no matter how old he was. He was curious about many things and wanted to try everything. If he saw a tree, he would climb it. When he saw drift wood by the pond, he would come up with something fun to do with it. Heck, just having his trusty shepherd's staff in his hand, Jack could do just about anything that came to his mind. Jack Frost was playful, fun and was always joking around. Even in serious situations, he would somehow find something comical. He was a mischievous teenager who has no interest in being bound by rules or obligations.

"Give that back, Jackson!" Irina yelled out, reaching for her sheet of paper that the brown haired boy held in his hand. He was dangling upside down on a tree branch and held Irina's drawing to his face. "I meant it! If you don't give me that right now I'll –"

"You'll what?" Jack asked, raising his brow at the fuming girl below him. He watched her hands form into tight fists and her eyes glare daggers at him. The boy didn't even flinch since he knew that there wasn't much the girl could do to harm him.

Irina furrowed her brows and tried to think of something to say to him. She knew she couldn't scare Jack because she didn't know what he was afraid of. Intimidating him wasn't an option either seeing as he was so much taller than her even if he wasn't hanging on a tree. Irina nearly laughed at the idea of fighting him seeing as there was a better chance of her getting hurt just by punching his arm.

"Well? I'm waiting," Jack's voice brought Irina out of her thoughts. "What are you going to do if I don't give you back your little drawing?"

"I'll… I'll…." Irina looked around the forest, trying to see if she could use or find anything helpful. "I'll tell your mother!"

The moment the words left her lips, she immediately wanted to take them back. Jack nearly fell off the tree from laughing so hard.

"You'll – hah – You'll tell my _mother_? Are you serious?" Jack laughed, craning his neck to look at the blushing girl. Irina backed up into another tree and ducked her head, hoping her hair was long enough to cover her flaming cheeks. The sounds of Jack's laughter proved that her attempt was useless.

"Snowflake, I haven't been afraid of my mother since I was five." He then mocked gasp. "Don't tell me, _you're _afraid of _your _mom? Tell me, Snowflake, what naughty things have you done?"

"I'm not afraid of my mom!" Irina huffed, folding her arms across her chest. "And I'm _not _naughty!"

Jack merely hummed, swinging himself so that he now sat comfortably on the branch. He grabbed hold of his staff and leaned against the tree trunk, leg swinging back in forth as he looked at Irina's drawing once more. It was pretty good. He could see the amount of effort she put to get the details right and he wished that he had the same talent in drawing. Of course he wouldn't admit that out loud.

"Now that you've had a good look at it, can I please have it back now?" Irina's voice brought Jack back to reality and when he looked down at her, he saw that her hands were once again forming fists at her sides. He smirked.

How could this girl look so cute when she was angry? It only drove him to push her buttons more.

"I don't see why you spend so much time drawing kangaroos, Snowflake."

"Kanga – It's a bunny," Irina growled, well attempted to really, offended by what Jack had said. "Stop calling me 'Snowflake', Frostbite!"

"_Frostbite? _How original!" Jack chuckled, pointing his staff towards Irina. "Really? It's a bunny? Could have fooled me!"

"Alright! Alright! I get it. I'm not the best artist out there. Can you please give it back?"

"I don't think so – Ow!" Jack exclaimed, dropping his staff and began rubbing his hand. A pebble had hit him! Irina actually threw a pebble at him! The boy looked down and saw the girl scampering towards his staff. She held onto it tightly before running back to where she was standing just a second ago. "Did you just _hit _me?"

"Me? _No._ It was the other girl who's annoyed at you," Irina said sarcastically, holding the staff at both ends and bringing her knee up. "Give back the drawing or else I'll break it."

Jack felt his heart skip a beat at the very thought of his staff being snapped into two. That staff was a one in a million find and if she broke it, there was no way he could put it back together. If by some miracle he could, it would never be the same.

"You wouldn't," he said after a moment's pause, voice disbelieving.

"Try me," Irina held the staff higher, ready to break it against her knee if provoked. "Hand over the drawing."

The boy stared at her for a few seconds, searching her eyes, even though she stood at a great distance from him, to see if she was bluffing. Seeing that she was downright serious, Jack let out a sigh and gave her a lopsided smile. Irina sent him a suspicious look, not liking the way he was looking at her.

"And you say you're not naughty," Jack teased, jumping down from the branch he was sitting on. He expertly landed on his feet as if he weighed nothing. "You sure know how to get your way, Snowflake."

"Stop calling me that," Irina glared, digging Jack's staff into the ground and leaned slightly on it. It was sturdier than she had imagined, no matter Jack was so fond of it. "Are you going to hand it over or what?"

"Calm down, Snowflake, I'm getting to that. First, I want you to answer a question of mine."

Irina raised her brow at him, looking at him like he was some sort of crazy person. "Do you honestly think I'll answer your question after what you've put me through?"

"If you want your precious kangaroo drawing back, yes," Jack paused. "And stop being so dramatic. I hardly put you through anything."

"What's your question?"

"Why do you hate me so much?" Jack asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

"Hate you?" Irina took a step back, eyes widening at the question. She had not expected him to ask such a question. "What would give you that idea?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders, talking a few steps towards the girl. She held his staff out threateningly; ready to push him if he got any closer. He held out his hands in defense. "Its actions like that that make me think that you do," He said, gesturing towards her "battle stance". "And you seem to hate my very presence. Why is that? I didn't do anything to you."

"You stole my drawing," Irina bluntly stated, not lowering her weapon. "That and you constantly interrupt my peace with all the noise you make."

"Noise? I'm just having _fun_, Snowflake. You do know what fun is, right?" Jack asked slowly as if he were talking to a child. Irina didn't appreciate it.

"Of course I know what fun is," The girl frowned, "You just take it too far. That and…"

"And?" Jack urged her to continue, desperate to know why she didn't like him.

Jack knew that it was impossible to be liked by everybody but to have this one person hate him for a reason he didn't even know was unnerving. He had seen Irina around the village and knew that she got along well with everybody…everybody except him. If someone were to hate him, he at least wanted to know _why. _

"You're bad news."

"Bad news!" Jack exclaimed, "How so?"

Irina squinted her eyes in thought, not believing that Jack had no idea what she was talking about. She slowly lowered his staff as she began to explain. "Let's put it this way. If there was a person keeping tabs of all the people who are naughty and or nice in the world, you would hold the record in the naughty list."

"And where would that put you?" Jack inquired.

"Nice of course!" Irina said as she hooked the staff around Jack's ankle and tugged it with all her might. The boy fell back in shock, not expecting her to do such a thing. The moment he hit the ground, Irina dropped his staff and made a run towards him. She took her drawing from his grasp and ran as fast as she could back to the village. When she was far enough, she looked back and yelled out to Jack with a smile on her face. "And you say I don't know how to have fun!"

* * *

"Look at what we can do!" Pitch exclaimed, gesturing towards the white frost and black sand figure he and Jack created during their fight. It sparkled darkly under the light and looked very deadly. If someone were to fall on it, it would end them immediately. "What goes better than cold and dark?"

The Winter Spirit looked around the frost and sand sculpture, trying to see what the Nightmare King saw. The latter continued talking as Jack continued to stare. "We can make them believe," he said. "We'll give them a world where everything is –"

"Pitch-black?" Jack suggested, realizing then that this was all about Pitch's personal fame. The Boogeyman didn't care about him. He may know the feeling of being cast out, he may want to be believed in as well but Pitch would never long for a family. He didn't believe in Jack. He just wanted him out of the picture. Pitch was trying to poison his mind.

"And Jack Frost too," Pitch quickly added. "They'll believe in the _both _of us."

"No, they'll _fear _both of us," The Winter Spirit said after considering Pitch's offer for a second. "That's not what I want. Now, for the last time, leave me alone!"

Pitch's expression darkened as Jack began to walk away from him. He reached into his pocket before speaking once more. "Very well. You want to be left alone? Done. But first…." He held out what he retrieved and it made a tinkly sound that made the Winter Spirit spin back around.

"Baby Tooth!" Jack charged forward to rescue her from Pitch.

"The staff Jack," The Nightmare King demanded. "You have a bad habit of interfering. Now hand it over, and I'll let her go."

Jack hesitated, thinking about what Pitch asked of him. Jack was silent and Pitch tightened his grasp making Baby Tooth squeaked in pain. At the sound, Jack tore away from his thoughts. She couldn't breathe! The Winter Spirit saw the tears forming in the Mini Fairy's eyes and slowly, he handed Pitch his staff. The Boogeyman scooped up the weapon happily, twirling it in his hand.

"All right," Jack said, making Pitch turn his attention back to him. "Now let her go."

"No." Pitch said without pause. "You said you wanted to be alone."

The Nightmare King drew back his hand and threw Baby Tooth into the air. The Mini Fairy fell into an ice canyon. Jack lunged at the Mini Fairy's falling figure, screaming. Pitch took this opportunity to break Jack's staff, causing the Winter Spirit to cringe in pain as he felt a piece of him break along with it. When Jack faltered, Pitch sent his Nightmares at him and they swirled around the Winter Spirit, slamming him into a wall of ice.

The iceberg began to crack. Jack stumbled forward, moaning softly as chunks of ice collapsed around him. Unable to get sure footing, Jack tumbled into a large crack in the ice, down into a seemingly endless frozen chasm. Pitch threw the pieces of his staff inside the chasm as well.

"By the way Jack," Pitch began, tossing something else into the chasm after the staff. "There is no one in this world that believes in you anymore."

* * *

Jack leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He was too tired to even think about getting out. Pitch was right, he thought, he makes a mess out of everything. Heck, he couldn't even keep Baby Tooth warm! All he was good for was keeping her cold. All of this could have been avoided if he had listened to the Mini Fairy in the first place. He had one job. To take Rina and Sophie back to Burgess and what did he do? He took a detour to an obviously suspicious looking bed. This could have all been avoided if he wasn't an idiot.

_Jack… Jack…_

The voice called out to him once more. He opened his eyes and found Baby Tooth pushing his tooth box out of his hoodie's pocket. Jack was surprised to see that it was now glowing gold. He took the box in his hand and Baby Tooth gestured for him to open it.

The Winter Spirit reached out towards the lid of the box and copied Baby Tooth's movement. He grazed his fingers over the cover and it opened. Inside were a handful of his baby teeth and they glowed with intense light.

Without warning, memories washed over Jack like a waterfall.

_In the first memory, Jack could hear his mother calling him. "Come on, Jack," she said, watching her son play in the trees. "You can't have fun all the time."_

_The next memory that came was Jack dancing in front of his family as they were warming themselves by a big fire. On his head, he wore antlers, trying to make everyone laugh._

_Another memory came and Jack was surprised to see a girl who looked a lot like Rina standing in front of him. She was the same height as Rina and had the same body structure as her as well – short and thin. She also had the big pale green eyes Jack had grown to love. The only difference was that this girl had brown hair while Rina had blonde. _

_Something about this girl made Jack's heart beat rapidly against his chest and made his stomach feel like there were a million butterflies trying to find a way out, as girly as it sounds. This girl had this annoyed expression on her face and a blush decorating her cheeks. Jack smirked at the sight and tightened his grip on his staff._

"_Now, Irina, that's not what I'm asking for," He chuckled as he quickly hooked his staff around the girl's waist and brought her towards him. The girl gasped and opened her mouth to yell at him. She never got the chance to for Jack quickly bent down and placed his lips on hers, kissing her sweetly._

_The memory changed once more and Jack was now out at the pond with his sister, Emma. They were ice-skating in the center of the frozen water. They were having fun just moments ago, laughing and trying to do tricks, but now they stood frozen in their place as a small crack began forming under his sister's skates. Emma wobbled and the crack began to grow._

"_Jack, I'm scared," Emma shakily said._

"_I know, I know," Jack felt his heart clench at the thought of the ice breaking. He needed to think of a way to save his sister – fast. "But you're going to be all right. You're not going to fall in," The boy kept his voice kind and leveled. It wouldn't do them any good if his sister found out that he was as scared as her. "We're going to have a little fun instead."_

_Jack looked around for the safest way back to solid ground. Why was the ice cracking? Wasn't it just fine a while ago? Heck, he fell on it and it didn't even crack! Why was this happening now? Why was it happening to Emma? What did that poor girl ever do?_

"_No, we're not," Emma replied, tears welling up in her eyes. The ice had yet to give way but the little girl was slowly losing hope. What were the chances that she was going to live to see tomorrow? _

"_Would I trick you?" Jack asked._

"_Yes!" Emma replied immediately, a tear rolling down her face. "You _always _play tricks!"_

"_Well, all right," Jack chuckled, trying to calm his sister down. "But not this time. I promise. I promise you're gonna be…." He trailed off, looking at the ice cracks. He had to do something. Now. "You're gonna be fine," He continued, staring into Emma's eyes, trying to make her believe him . "You have to believe in me."_

_Emma chocked back her tears and managed to give Jack a smile. _

"_You wanna play a game? We're going to play hopscotch! Like we play every day." Jack showed his sister how to make the first leap. After leap number one, Jack landed unsteadily on the ice. It cracked a bit under his feet but Jack still managed to grin. He tried to convince Emma that his stumble was on purpose before leaping a second time and a third._

_Jack landed near his staff and held out his arms towards Emma. He reached down by his feet and picked up his staff. He counted and Emma hopped carefully. She gasped when the ice cracked even more. Jack felt his heart leap in his chest and when he saw that Emma was still there, he moved on to two. When he came to three, Jack hooked his staff around Emma's waist and with all the strength he could muster, he flung her away from the crack._

_Unfortunately for him, Jack took her place on the cracked ice. _

_Seeing that Emma was safe, Jack felt a smile form on his lips and was just about to walk towards her when the ice broke beneath his feet._

_The last thing Jack heard was Emma screaming his name._

* * *

__**Merry Christmas, guys!  
**

**Here's Chapter 14 for ya!  
**

**I really hope you guys enjoyed it.**

**Sorry there wasn't much originality in it. Actually... it's more movie than anything.  
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**Crap. That's not good.  
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**I'M REALLY SORRY.  
**

**I just wanted to show where in the movie the story is in now and also a little insight in Jack and Irina's friendship.  
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**So Jack has regained his memories.  
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**What happens now?  
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**What happened to Rina?  
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**We'll find out in the next chapter which will hopefully be up tomorrow :)  
**

**OH, before I forget, I'm so happy to see that I've reached over 200 hundred reviews so fast! I can't believe it!  
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**I'm so happy.  
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**One of the best Christmas gifts... EVER.  
**

**Okay, this Author's Note is getting long. I should wrap it up now.  
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**Thanks for taking the time to read, review, follow and favorite this story!  
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**I hope you enjoyed this chapter (Even though it's more movie than anything... sorry again about that)  
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**Please tell me what you thought! Your opinion means a lot.  
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**Sorry for all the typos and grammatical errors...  
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**Stay tuned for the next chapter  
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**and  
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**I only own what I own :)  
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	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen:**

When Rina thought about it, her greatest fear was being left alone. Being tossed aside like some piece of trash and being forgotten. Growing up, Rina never thought that she would have a fear like that because she was so used to being alone but once she met Lyndi, everything changed. The girl didn't like admitting it now that they were no longer friends but Lyndi, not matter how rotten she had gotten over the past few years, had made such a huge impact on Rina's life.

Lyndi was Rina's first friend. Lyndi was the one that introduced Rina to a new life. She taught Rina how to socialize more and even though Rina didn't often show it, her fashion sense was actually quite horrible without Lyndi's help. Sure, Lyndi didn't appreciate the jumpers Rina wore now but it could have been worse.

The girl somehow shaped Rina into who she was today. Rina was still her own person, dressing up in too big clothes and believing in things most teens brushed of as childish, but there was a little piece of Lyndi in her (Not that she would admit it out loud seeing as they were no longer on good terms).

It wasn't the rotten Lyndi we knew today. It was the sweeter kind. The Lyndi that many often forgot existed at one point. The Lyndi Rina was afraid to leave behind before they got into a fight.

It was thanks to Lyndi's friendship that Rina had a taste of what it was like to have someone there for you.

Rina still remembered how her life was before she met Lyndi. She remembered clutching her sketchpads to her chest as she walked down the hallways of her school, head hung low and feet moving fast so that no one would stop her. There was a time when the boys in her batch would throw crumbled pieces of paper at her and some girls would even stick their legs out so that Rina would trip over them. Rina was always the quiet girl and even though she was being bullied, she never said a word about it to the teachers because frankly, she didn't know what to say.

"They're picking on me because I'm an easy target." Wasn't exactly what she wanted to tell them though it pretty much summed up her situation.

Before Lyndi came to her life, Rina was pushed into lockers and more often than not, her things were sent flying in the air whenever she was shoved or when she tripped. It didn't help that most of the time she was holding on to stray sheets of paper that took forever to pick up especially when they flew out of her hands when people were transferring classrooms, rushing to the cafeteria or worse, stampeding out the door when the final bell rang.

School was pretty much hell for Rina when people took notice of her so when Lyndi came along and defended her, Rina couldn't help but look at Lyndi like she was some kind of superhero. Rina was the kind of girl who was so used to being the only one in class without a partner during pair work that when Lyndi sat beside her for the first time during a pair assignment, Rina couldn't help but feel giddy inside. The fact that Rina had to do the poster Lyndi was assigned to make was long forgotten the moment she realized that Lyndi wasn't backing out on her promise.

Was this how friendship felt like? Rina would always ask herself whenever Lyndi did something nice or made Rina feel special. Little by little, Rina began to understand why people liked having friends and without realizing it, Rina had become dependent on Lyndi. She no longer liked being left alone. Wherever Lyndi went, Rina followed because wherever Lyndi was, Rina was safe.

Lyndi Mara Clayton was the reason why Rina was afraid of being alone.

* * *

"We have to get out of here." Jack told Baby Tooth, pocketing his box of teeth as he looked around the cavern. Seeing nothing but snow and rock, Jack concluded that the only way out was up and, unfortunately for him, he had no idea how he was going to go up there without his staff.

A moment passed when, suddenly, the Winter Spirit caught sight of something lying on a heap of snow. His heart skipped a beat when he saw what it was. It was his staff! Jack scrambled towards it and his initial excitement faded when he felt his heart sink to his stomach the moment he saw the state it was in.

Right.

How could he forget?

The Nightmare King snapped it in half like it was a mere twig.

Not wanting to lose hope just after he found out the true reason why he was chosen to be a Guardian, Jack picked up his staff and tried to put it back together. It immediately fell apart and the Winter Spirit knitted his brows together in thought, sticking the two ends of his staff together once more. He closed his eyes in concentration and managed to throw a blue spark at the staff, the spark soon turning into light.

Before his very eyes, the wooden staff melded together and became whole again. A sense of pride and glee swelled in the Winter Spirit when he saw that he was able to fix his trusty staff.

"Come on, Baby Tooth!" Jack said with a smile, prepared to take off. "I owe you one."

Just as he was about to fly them out of the cavern, not wanting to waste another moment in Antarctica, away from the children that he could help, Baby Tooth saw something in the snow. It was shimmering beside Jack's feet and it seemed to call out to her. Curious, she let out a tweet, catching Jack's attention, and pointed towards the foreign object. The Winter Spirit looked around the snow for a bit before seeing what Baby Tooth was gesturing at. He bent down to pick up the object and his eyes widened when he saw what it was.

It was Rina's charm bracelet.

"Pitch," Jack muttered darkly, looking at each individual charm that hung on the chain. He saw that they were dirtied with Pitch's nightmare sand and that the chain was broken. The Winter Spirit guessed that the Boogeyman grabbed it straight from Rina's wrist without hesitation.

Jack looked away from the bracelet, not knowing what he would do if he were to see blood on it as well.

Without warning, Jack summoned the wind and was soon riding it out of the cavern and straight to the Nightmare King's Lair. It would be bad news if Pitch were there but at the state he was in, angry beyond belief, Jack was so sure that he could actually beat the man. Jack felt his heart pounding violently against his chest as his grip on the bracelet tightened. He didn't care about the charms digging into his skin; all he cared about was saving Rina and the Mini Fairies.

The moment the Winter Spirit entered the Lair he moved to set all of Tooth's fairies free because they were the first ones that caught his eye. He jumped from one cage to another, prying the doors open in order for the Mini Fairies to take off.

When he reached the final cage, he urged the fairies to fly out.

"Come on, let's go!" Jack said to the Mini Fairies. The fairies looked at him hopelessly, trying to do what he said but to no avail. Their wings refused to move and if they dared to jump, they would fall to the bottom of the cage with a not so gentle _thunk!_

"What's wrong?" The Winter Spirit asked them, not knowing why they weren't zooming out. "None of you can fly?"

The Mini Fairies shook their heads and Jack furrowed his brows, trying to think of a way to help them. How in the world was he going to free thousands of Mini Fairies when none of them could fly? Could he possibly summon to wind to carry them all out? That could work but once they were out, then what? He couldn't exactly order the wind to guide all of them. That would be hectic and would probably cause more trouble than good.

While in thought, Baby Tooth flew to Jack's fist and tugged Rina's bracelet out of his hand. The Winter Spirit was so deep in thought that he had not realized the absence of the chain. Baby Tooth sank slightly from the weight of the bracelet but managed to bring it to Jack's face, shaking it so that the charms jingled. Her fellow Mini Fairies couldn't fly and that was that. Baby Tooth knew that it was only a matter of time till she lost her ability to fly so they needed to move on to the next problem. Rina. Jack's expression hardened at the sight of the bracelet.

"Have you ever seen Pitch bring in a small blonde girl here?" He asked the Mini Fairies, trying to think of a better way to describe Rina when several of the fairies nodded their heads. His heart skipped a beat and he hurriedly asked, "Where is she?"

The Mini Fairies tweeted all at once and Jack struggled to understand what they were trying to tell him. Baby Tooth looked around the Lair worriedly, scared that maybe something or someone might just jump out and attack them. It wasn't beneath Pitch to set up traps even though he probably thought that Jack was a goner. The Mini Fairy caught sight of the large Globe of Belief Pitch had and her eyes widened when she saw how dark it was. Tugging at Jack's hoodie, the Mini Fairy drew his attention to it.

Jack immediately flew to the globe and he couldn't believe what he saw. It looked as though there were no lights left. Could it be? Did Pitch's plan actually work? There were no longer any children who believed in the Guardians? The Winter Spirit climbed up the globe, trying to see if there were any hidden lights and was relieved to see that there were at least two lights left.

There were still two children out there who believed in them. Two children were enough for now.

He suddenly froze when he saw the second light flickering.

"Rina…" Jack whispered, vaguely remembering the words Pitch said after he had fallen into the cavern. At that time, he had thought that the Boogeyman's words were just a dream – his mind playing tricks on him. Jack was so sure that Rina was going to believe no matter what!

Heck, she had Lyndi as a friend for so many years and she still managed to believe, right?

A shiver suddenly ran down Jack's spine and when he looked around the Lair, he caught sight of Pitch's nightmare sand lurking at a corner of the cave. Jack tightened his grip on his staff and approached the sand. The nightmare's seemed to swarm around something and Jack fought them off, freezing them in place.

"Get out of here!" Jack yelled at them, not really knowing if they could even hear what he was saying, as he shot a blast of frost towards a certain nightmare that was aiming to go right through him like how its fellow nightmare sand did to Sandy.

Unfortunately for them, Jack was prepared and was in no mood to be taken down. Some of the nightmare sand wrapped around Jack's legs but the Winter Spirit was too determined to find out what was being hidden in the corner that he didn't plan on running away the moment he freed himself from their grasp.

The nightmare sand put up quite a fight, surrounding the Winter Spirit and attacking him all at the same time, but Jack was stronger. In a matter of minutes, Jack was able to freeze all of Pitch's nightmare sand. When he was sure that there was no more sand out to attack him, he maneuvered his way through their frozen figures and was shocked to see a large cage pressed against the corner.

The corner the cage was in was dark and he couldn't really make out what was inside the cage, only that whatever was inside was hunched over and seemed to be crying. The figure moved and something fell to the cold, hard ground with an echoing _clink. _The Winter Spirit looked down at the object and saw that it was a box of teeth.

Jack felt his heart skip a beat when he thought about what, rather _who_ could be in the cage. The Mini Fairies had seen Pitch bring Rina into his Lair, didn't they? Surely the Nightmare King had kept her captive seeing as he wanted to make her his Nightmare Princess.

If Jack was lucky, maybe Pitch was just saying those things to get a rise out of him.

Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, Jack approached the cage with caution, carefully grabbing hold of the bars when he was within reach.

"Rina?"

* * *

Rina hugged her legs close to her body and bent so low that her face was nearly touching the cold surface of the cage she was in. She was still wearing her same Easter Egg Hunting outfit, warm and cozy, yet she felt chilled to the bone. No matter what she did, pulling the sleeves of her jumper to cover her knuckles, breathing into her hands and bringing her limbs closer to her center, she was still freezing.

The area she was in was dark and scary. She never liked the dark and the fact that she almost couldn't see anything was frightening. In the dark, she could feel something grabbing hold of her ankles and wrists. Whatever this thing was, it felt rough like sand and it scared her senseless whenever it grabbed her. She would kick it away and more often than not; she would hit her wrist against the bars of the cage in hopes that she would hit the thing as well. After some time, the sand like thing stopped touching her.

When the sand left her alone, Rina focused on the sounds around her, trying to distract herself. Just a while ago she could hear tweeting and fluttering wings but then all of a sudden, it stopped. The sounds that were uncanny to birds gave her a sense of relief because it made her feel like she wasn't alone in the cave she was in. It made her feel like she wasn't the only one taken by the darkness.

The moment the cave turned silent was the moment Rina felt alone. Like she was the only one suffering.

Closing her eyes to block out everything didn't help her because whenever her eyes closed, memories flooded her. These memories were familiar to her. Some of them were happy while others made her heart clench because when she saw them, it made her think that they would never happen again. Like she would never be that happy again. Maybe if she were in a different situation, she would look at these memories fondly but the fact that she was trapped made her long to go back to the times when she was so happy and free.

The other memories that flooded her mind were odd. They had a sense of nostalgia and the setting of these memories was old, like it happened in the colonial period. The people in them were quite familiar to Rina even though she never saw them in her village or school. Most of the people she saw in these memories were the people she saw in the dreams she had when she was younger.

There was the girl with the beauty mark under her eye and the brown haired boy with a cloak. In one memory, she looked into a mirror and instead of seeing her blonde hair, she saw herself with brown.

The first time these memories came, they were fun. The brown haired version of her was often hanging out with the boy with the cloak. They seemed to go on many adventures together, often being accompanied by the little girl. The memories Rina saw were beautiful because the people who were in them just seemed so at peace. It was like nothing bad could ever happen.

It was one memory, however, that made Rina think differently. This memory made Rina's heart clench and for some reason made her want to throw up.

"Rina?"

The sound of her name scared her and she did not dare acknowledge the person who said it. The person's voice was soft and concerned and Rina was sure it was just her mind playing tricks on her. Ever since she was dragged down, had her bracelet break of her wrist and was thrown into the cage, she heard nothing sweet or comforting. The voice she heard was fake.

If she were to look up, she would see nothing but darkness and she would most likely dwell deeper into depression.

"Rina." The voice called again, only a little louder like it was trying to make her look up. Rina groaned, trying to do something to mute the voice. It just had to stop calling to her. It just had to. "Rina, please look at me."

"Go away," Rina whispered, her voice cracking. She could feel something surrounding her body once more. It was the same sand that grabbed hold of her just moments ago. "You're not real."

* * *

Jack felt Rina's words pierce through him like a knife and he cringed at the pain he felt. He was used to being invisible but hearing someone say he wasn't real? Now that hurt especially since it came from Rina – the first girl… _person _to ever acknowledge his existence. The Winter Spirit tried to push the feeling aside, knowing that Rina wasn't right in the head at the moment. Pitch's nightmares did a number on her and he could only guess how much she'd been through since she's been dragged down here. Sucking in a breath, Jack tried to get her to look at him again.

"Rina, please." His voice almost foreign to him. Was he begging?

"You're not real. You're not real," Jack heard Rina mutter over and over again and he immediately thought back to the flickering light on the Globe. He was running out of time. "You're not real."

"If I'm not real, then why can I touch you?" Jack asked, reaching into the cage to take her hand. He was glad that he didn't pass right through her and when Rina tried to pull away, Jack tightened his grip. She whined. "Rina, look at me. I'm real and I'm going to get you out."

Rina stopped moving and Jack tried to press himself closer against the bars just so that he could be closer to her. Suddenly, nightmare sand began to swarm around Rina's body and Jack felt himself panic. He shot at the sand but some still managed to latch onto Rina. If he attacked, he would end up harming the girl. The Winter Spirit furrowed his brows and tried to pull Rina towards him. The girl jerked and Jack saw something in her change.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Jack." Rina whimpered, wriggling away from his grasp. She brought her hand closer to herself, moving away from the Winter Spirit when he reached out to her. "I'm so sorry…"

"Sorry about what, Rina?" Jack asked softly. "You did nothing wrong."

"I told you to go to the pond!" The girl cried out, looking at him for the first time since he approached. Jack gasped when he saw Pitch's nightmare sand stick to Rina's neck and part of her face. That wasn't the only shocking thing he saw, though. Rina's pale green eyes were normally filled with childlike wonder and a sort of sparkle but now they were filled with fear and sadness. One of them was now a bright gold color, just like Pitch's. Her blonde hair looked dirty, almost brown, and it looked like it was tugged at mercilessly. In short, Rina didn't look like herself.

"I told you to go to the pond! If… If I hadn't suggested it…" She chocked on her sob. "Then you would…. You would still be alive!"

"_Irina…"_

* * *

**And here's Chapter 15! **

**Sorry it took a little longer than expected. I spent the whole day yesterday drawing. It's been ages since I drew and I didn't want to give up the opportunity to sketch out Rina :P**

**Anyway, I know how in the movie the scene where Jack sees that there's only one light left on the Globe is a bit fast paced since the moment he realized it was Jamie, he zoomed right out of Pitch's Lair, right?**

**Well, I slowed it (the pace I mean) down a bit so we can have a little Jack and Rina time.**

**So things are getting a bit dramatic, huh?**

**What's happening to Rina?**

**Oh dear...**

**And I ended this chapter with a cliff hanger too, didn't I?**

**Bad author.**

**Okay. Moving on.**

**I just want to thank all of those who read, reviewed, followed and added this fic to their favorites.**

**As I always say, it means a lot and it urges me to write more and update faster.**

**So thank you all!**

**Also, I really hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter.**

**You know, typos and grammatical errors and all.**

**So yeah.**

**Please tell me what you thought of the chapter.**

**Stay tuned for the next one**

**and**

**I only own what I own.**

**(BTW. Sorry if Jack seemed a little OOC in this chapter)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen:**

Jack Frost stretched his arms behind his head as he made his way towards the pond, ready to lie down on the soft grass and gaze up at the sky for who knows how long. The clouds hid the sun today and the wind blew a cold breeze every now and again so he figured it was the perfect day to head out and just relax. Of course, his best friend, Irina Snowe, had the same thought so when Jack arrived at the pond, the girl was already leaning against her favorite tree, sketching. She had her back against the trunk of the tree and her knees were brought up to her chest so she could use them as a table. Even from where he was standing he could she the slight crease on her forehead as she concentrated on her artwork.

A smirk graced Jack's lips when he saw that Irina had yet to take notice of his presence, too focused on what she was doing. He loved the way she seemed to forget about the world around her whenever she drew. She just looked so at peace. Jack also loved the way she let down her guard because it gave him the chance to sneak up on her and scare her senseless.

He held his staff firmly in his hand and carefully crept towards Irina, making sure to watch where he stepped. If he so much as set foot on a fallen leaf or kicked a pebble, Irina would most likely snap out of her "artist trance", find out his plans and punch him in the arm – hard.

Well, when he thought about it, after he scares her, she would still punch him but at least it would have been worth it.

In a matter of seconds, Jack found himself leaning over Irina's shoulder, holding his breath. It amazed him to no end how much she put into her drawing. He could clearly see the pond and the plants surrounding it on her paper. He was almost about to breath out in awe when he remembered the reason why he was leaning over her shoulder in the first place. Gently placing his staff on the ground, Jack pocked a certain area on Irina's neck, her ticklish spot, and whispered "Boo!" in her ear.

"AAAAHHH!" Irina squealed, raising her hand to her neck and scrambling to her feet. She moved so fast that she tripped over her skirt and fell back down on the grassy ground with a_ thud_.She then moved back, scared that maybe some sort of animal crept behind her or maybe even a killer. Either way, she wanted to get away as fast as she could.

When she saw the hunched over figure of Jack Frost and the earsplitting grin on his face, she slowly lowered her hand and squinted her eyes at him, wishing he would choke on his own laughter and die. She grabbed hold of a pebble that she found lying near her hand and threw it at him, successfully hitting him on the side of his head. Jack immediately stopped laughing and brought his hand to his head, rubbing the sore spot with a frown on his face. The expression on the boy's face matched Irina's.

"Oww!" Jack huffed, looking at her with furrowed brows. What happened to that punch he was expecting? At least her punches were not painful. What kind of demon pebble was that anyway? "What was that for?"

"What was _that _for?" Irina repeated his question, scoffing. She placed her hands on her hips and gave Jack a hard, annoyed look. "Like you need to ask! You scared me!"

The grin returned to Jack's face at the reminder. "You screamed so loud!" He laughed, wiping the tears of joy from his eyes. Irina looked so adorable sitting on the grass, hands on hips, and a displeased look on her face. She really looked like a kid at the moment. "You even scared the birds away."

"I did not!" Irina blushed, brushing her hair back. "What do you want anyway?"

"What makes you think I want something?" Jack asked, picking up his staff and moving to lie down on the grass beside the tree. He shifted a bit until he got comfortable, his arms behind his head and eyes closed. Irina stood up from her place on the grass, approached Jack and glared down at him. The boy opened one eye and he nearly smirked at how irritated Irina looked. "Do you mind? You're blocking the sun."

"What sun?" Irina huffed, gesturing the cloud filled sky. "You don't even have the ability to get tanned. You turn as red as a tomato."

"True," Jack mussed, opening the other eye and he smiled at Irina. "How about you join me down here and get a cloud tan?"

"Why am I friends with you?" The girl muttered under her breath, folding her drawing and placing it in to the little pouch bag she had strapped around her waist. It was slightly crumbled after her scare. She would just have to make another one later. Irina then sat down beside Jack but refused to lie down on the grass.

"Because I know how to have some fun," Jack answered her question with a wink. Irina frowned. "And I'm bad news. Face it, you girls like us bad boys."

"In your dreams, Frostbite." Irina snorted; using the nickname she gave him long ago.

"Here's hoping, Snowflake."

Irina laughed under her breath but didn't say anything in reply. She just folded her legs under herself and began picking at the grass and flowers surrounding them. Winter was approaching and in a few short weeks Irina was sure that all the pretty flowers were going to be buried under the white blanket of snow. Jack, on the other hand, couldn't wait for winter to come. It was his favorite season and if it were up to him, he would have it snowing for the entire year.

The girl stood up quietly when she heard the soft, even breaths of Jack (it seemed as though he had fallen asleep) and walked around the pond, picking the flowers and gathering them in her arms. When she thought she had enough, she returned to her place beside Jack and began weaving the flowers together to form a headband. It was a quick process since she's done it enough times before and by the time she finished, she placed it on her head and began pulling grass out of the ground.

Slowly, Irina began dropping the grass she pulled out on Jack's face, seeing if she could wake him up or be able to burry him in his sleep. The first few grass blades didn't wake him but after a while, Irina saw Jack's nose wrinkle like he was about to sneeze. Irina held in a laugh and continued what she was doing, wanting to see what Jack would do. When she ran out of grass, she brought her hand down to get some more when Jack's hand shot up to grab her wrist.

"AH!" Irina gasped in shock, tugging her arm back.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, sitting up and brushing the dirt of his face. Irina smiled when she saw how confused he was – hair disheveled, eyes half lidded.

"Just having a little fun," The girl shrugged, trying to wriggle her hand out of his grasp.

"What's that?"

"You're asking a lot of questions, aren't you?" Irina raised her brow at him, moving her other hand up to her hairband. "I made it while you were asleep. Cute, huh?"

"I almost thought you had yellow hair," Jack let out a yawn, taking the headband and placing it on the ground beside them.

"Imagine that! Me with yellow hair!" Irina chuckled, not realizing that Jack had moved to stand up. She was suddenly jerked to her feet, stumbling from the sudden change of position. Jack hadn't let go of her hand yet.

Irina looked up at him curiously, wondering why he wasn't grinning like before. In fact, he looked pretty straight face, almost bored. The girl wondered if it was because he just woke up or she did something wrong. Surely he wasn't angry about the grass, right? If he was, it was a stupid thing to be angry about. After all, he did nearly give her a heart attack. Covering him with grass wasn't as bad as that.

"I think I want to go for a swim," Jack's voice brought Irina back to reality and she sent him a confused look.

"Seriously? It's not even hot." If they were going to go in for a dip, they might end up freezing to death. It wasn't exactly summer, after all.

"Doesn't matter." Jack's signature grin slowly made it's way back to his face and Irina saw a familiar twinkle in his eyes. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight. This wasn't going to be good for her. "Come on, join me."

"No way, Frostbite," Irina tugged her arm, trying to get him to let go. She loved the cold just as much as Jack did but didn't fancy getting het clothes wet, trudging back to her house and explaining things to her mother. The girl was also not in the mood to answer her friends' questions if they would see her drenched from head to toe along with Jack. "There's no way I'm getting into that pond. It's freezing!"

"You don't know that." The boy began making his way towards the pond, dragging the squirming girl behind him. Irina tried her best to dig her feet into the soil, trying to stay on the nice, dry ground, but Jack was stronger than her. He just continued to walk, pulling her with him.

"It's almost winter! Are you crazy?" Irina squeaked when Jack turned around and, without warning, scooped her into his arms. A bright red blush decorated her cheeks and Jack made it a point to comment on them. Irina, of course, smacked his chest. "PUT. ME. DOWN!"

Jack raised his brow at Irina and the girl almost regretted what she had said. He wouldn't dare, would he? She felt herself move in Jack's arms and before she could take back what she had asked, she was suddenly enveloped in a cold, wet hug. She sunk for a few seconds, frozen, and after she got over her shock, she swam to the surface, gasping for breath. Her hair stuck to her skin and her teeth were already chattering when she looked up to glare at Jack.

"Y – You are s – so de – dead!" Irina yelled out, wrapping her arms around her body. A cold breeze blew by and she squeezed her eyes shut when it came. It was freezing!

"I was only doing what you told me to do." Jack said with a shrug, turning around and walking away from the pond.

"Whe – Where do – do you th – think you're g – going?" Irina asked. She didn't want to be left alone in the pond and she didn't think she would be able to get out without any help.

The boy didn't supply an answer for he swiftly turned back around and began running back to the pond and without warning, jumped into it, creating a large splash that caused the waves to push Irina away from him. The girl's eyes widened and she let out a cheerful laugh when Jack swam up, yelling about how cold the water was.

"Serves you right!"

* * *

"_Irina…"_

Jack watched Rina suck in a breath and he saw that her whole body began to shake uncontrollably. She looked away from him and he watched as the sand began to surround her once more, enveloping her in a nightmare filled hug. He hated the fact that he couldn't do anything to help her at that moment. The Winter Spirit couldn't break open the cage and he couldn't attack the sand because, as stated many times before, he might hurt Rina in the process and he didn't want that to happen. Jack's brows furrowed with frustration and he glared at the ground because this was exactly how he felt when Pitch took Sandy's life. Couldn't he protect _anyone_?

He looked up when he heard Rina let out a strangled cry and he helplessly watched as she brought her hands over her arms and legs in an attempt to brush away the nightmare sand but it was no use. They kept coming back.

"Why won't it come off?" Rina sobbed, furiously scratching her skin and twitching. Jack guessed she had a ticklish spot on her neck and the nightmare sand kept brushing against it.

"Irina," Jack rasped out, catching her attention. Rina stopped what she was doing and slowly looked to him. The Winter Spirit felt like someone just punched him in the gut when he saw how scared she looked. It was almost like she didn't recognize him. Her eyes no longer held the warmth or sparkle he loved so much.

"Why… why are you calling me that?" The girl squeaked out, looking at him with wide, panic filled eyes. Jack winced when he saw how golden they've become. How un-Rina she looked. "That's… it's not my name… but it's familiar…" She continued, bringing her hands up to her hair. Jack saw her glance down at the chunk she was combing through and she let out a panicked scream. "My hair!" She immediately let go of the chunk and looked back at Jack. "What… What happened to it? It was blonde! _Blonde! _Now it's brown!"

"Irina, come here," Jack reached for her through the cage's bars, his fingers barely brushing her leg. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down? How can I calm down?" Rina tried to keep herself from yelling but it was hard not to. With all that was happening, she wanted to scream out into the heavens. She didn't care who heard her or if she were to lose her voice in the process. She just wanted to scream. At that moment, it seemed like all she could ever do was scream. "What's happening to me? Why do you keep calling me that?"

"Because it's your name," The Winter Spirit simply said, holding onto his staff. Had she forgotten what she had told him just a few moments ago? Surely it was Irina talking. Rina wouldn't have known about the pond. _He _didn't know about the pond until he took a look into his memories.

When Rina didn't say anything, Jack took this opportunity to do something. Slowly, Jack slipped his staff through the cage and hooked it around Rina's waist. With one swift movement, he pulled her towards him. Rina let out a cry in protest but Jack held her down, not wanting her to go to the far end of the cage again. He needed her close. He needed her to listen.

"Pitch is trying to take control of your body. He wants to make you his Nightmare Princess. You have to calm down because the more you're scared, the faster the transformation will be." Jack wasn't exactly sure if what he said was right, but it seemed likely. When Rina began to panic, the nightmare sand began to swarm and she began to change.

"Transformation?" Rina breathed out, a tear sliding down her cheek. "Who's Pitch?"

"He's the Boogeyman," Jack replied.

Rina closed her eyes, trying to absorb the information but she didn't get a chance to because the moment her eyes closed for more than a second, she was brought to another memory. She was brought back to the pond of Burgess. She always loved that pond. It was beautiful and the giant tree that stood beside it was her favorite. She often leaned against it and drew the scenery around her. If she was lucky, a bunny would hop by and she would get a chance to draw it.

In this memory, she was once again dressed in the long brown skirt and woolen blouse. She was leaning against the tree, legs used as a table, and she was drawing the pond and the plants around it. Winter was coming and she wanted to sketch out the flowers, trees and grass before it was all covered by snow. She was just adding the final touches, shading here and there, when someone suddenly pocked her in the neck, sending a wave through her body and that same someone blew "Boo!" into her ear, practically sending her flying from shock.

"AH!" Rina gasped, escaping the memory and entering the real world once more. A sudden rush coursed through her and she felt her heart beat frantically against her chest. She suddenly remembered what she had told Jack and guilt instantly washed over her. Her lips quivered at the memory and she brought a hand towards Jack's and ignored her fingers becoming numb from his touch.

"Rina?" Jack asked, trying to see if she would react better to her other name. It was beginning to confuse him. He knew that they were the same person but he wasn't so sure that they or _she_ knew that. When he got his memories back, he saw that they had many similarities and the only difference he could think of at the moment was that they had different hair colors. If Rina were to dye her hair brown, she would look exactly like Irina and vice versa.

The Winter Spirit shook his head. This wasn't the time to be thinking of such things. He just needed the girl (the girls?) to get a hold of herself (themselves?) and not succumb to Pitch's nightmares. He looked down to his hand and watched as Rina began playing with his fingers like she did the first time he was able to touch her.

What he would give to go back to that day and not have her stuck in a cage in Pitch's Lair.

"Why did you go to the pond, Jack?" Rina mumbled, her voice meek and shaking. "If only you hadn't listened to me. You would still be alive."

"Well, not exactly. It's been three hundred years since then," Jack tried to joke. He hated how dark things have become. He wanted to go back and have fun with the children in Burgess. The Winter Spirit wanted to go back to the times where they would have snowball fights and when Jamie rode his sled through the town, crashing into the founder's statue. The time when he brought Rina to the roofs and showed her the Sandman's dreamsand and when they fell into Bunny's colorful stream and came out looking like North's elf.

"I've never been so scared, Jack. I was there. When you fell through the ice. I saw it." Jack felt Rina's tears fall onto his cold hand and he wished he could do something to make her stop crying. He knew that she felt guilty, that was obvious, but how could he get it into her head that he held no grudge? That he didn't blame her? That he was happy that it was he who fell through the ice and not her or his sister? It would only be her fault if she _knew _that the ice was going to break. No one could have guessed.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Jack whispered, not knowing what else to say.

"I'm sorry you fell through the ice," Rina said, equally as quiet.

"It's not your fault."

"I don't believe you." Rina cried, bringing her hands up to wipe her eyes. The sand wasn't violently surrounding her now. It was silently moving around the floor of her cage, running over her legs but not grabbing her. It was like a cat walking around your legs, fur brushing your skin.

Jack didn't like hearing Rina blame herself and it seemed like she entered a trance, looking away from him and mumbling to herself. She had ducked her head, hair creating a shield to cover her face, and brought her legs up to her chest, arms wrapping around them. The Winter Spirit listened to her mumbling chant and he reached out to brush her hair back.

The moment he touched her hair, his hand slipped right through it. It wasn't like her hair parted when his fingertips touched them. No. His entire hand went through her now brown hair without so much as moving a strand. The Winter Spirit redrew his hand, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and looked at it. Did that just happen? But…

"Rina?" Jack called out to her but the girl didn't move. She didn't even flinch. Rina didn't hear him. Jack bit his lip and, though he knew what would happen, reached out to her once more. His hand passed right through the girl and the boy closed his eyes, bringing his hand back.

He couldn't believe it.

Rina had stopped believing.

* * *

**HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

**Sorry for the delay. I sort of had a hard time writing out this chapter. In fact, this chapter isn't one of my best works. I'm sorry about that.**

**Anyway, hopefully things will lighten up in the future chapters, yeah?**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

**Please tell me what you thought. Your opinion means a lot.**

**(Massive thanks to those who read, reviewed [Only five more till 300. Can you believe that?], followed and added this fic to their favorites. I love you guys!)**

**Sorry for the typos, grammatical errors and the like.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**and**

**I only own what I own.**

**(BTW. If you are wondering what Rina looks like, you can either visit my deviantart account [I still go by AnimeFlowerGirl] because I uploaded my drawing of her or you can just think of Rapunzel from Tangled only with shoulder length hair :) )**

**(BTW... again. Sorry if the next chapter might take some time again. School is starting next week and I have yet to finish all my assignments. I also plan on writing my Original Stories again so I may focus on them as well. Just be patient with me.)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen:**

The first time Jack Frost saw Rina Snowe was when he was flying around Burgess, no specific destination in mind, just going wherever the wind took him, and ended up seeing Jamie and his group of friends running around the park, chucking snowballs at each other. One way or another, Jack would always find himself hanging around Jamie and his group for some reason unknown to him. It was like he had a connection with the boy. Obviously Jamie couldn't see him and Jack often asked the moon about this but seeing as neither of the two could or would answer his question, the Winter Spirit just went along with the feeling.

"How about some ammo?" Jack asked excitedly, landing on the snow covered ground and with a wave of his staff, produced several snowballs by the children's feet. They bent down, not questioning the fact that the snowballs came out of nowhere (they were too focused on their game), and started throwing them at each other.

Some unlucky kids even tripped over the snowballs Jack made.

"All right!" The Winter Spirit cheered, joining into the fun. Seeing as no one could see him, Jack had the advantage. Jack threw snowballs at Claude's back and in Caleb's face. Monty's glasses were knocked off his face, Pippa stumbled after being ambushed by a couple of Jack's snowballs and Jamie got hit as well. The Winter Spirit moved to hit the next kid he saw, ecstatic that he was "winning" because no one could get a hit.

Jack nearly dropped the snowball in his hand when he saw the kid he was about to hit. The kid, now that he got a good look at her, wasn't a kid at all. She seemed to be a couple of years older than Jamie and she had shoulder length blonde hair and the largest eyes Jack had ever seen. It was like she was perpetually surprised. The Winter Spirit froze in his place and he watched as the girl laughed loudly, throwing snowballs at whoever came her way. She wasn't exactly good, most of the balls missing by a couple of feet but she didn't look put out. In fact, the girl seemed to laugh harder when she didn't hit anybody.

"Rina, you suck at this!" Caleb called, throwing a snowball at the girl who now had a name. Rina flinched when she was hit, giggling. "You can't even hit Monty!"

"Hey!" The boy yelled, shoving his glasses back before being hit at the back of his head by Jamie. Jack let out a laugh, throwing a ball of snow at the Bennett boy as he listened to Caleb's and Rina's conversation.

"Not everybody can be good!" Rina replied, throwing a ball at Claude and missing. She bent down, shaking her head at her miss. "I can find Easter Eggs and you can throw – Ack! CALEB!" Rina turned around, aiming to hit Claude's twin. She missed him by a fraction of an inch. "Tsk! So close!" She reached to the back of her head and neck, brushing of the snow. A shiver ran down her spine when it slipped down her back.

"Easter Eggs!" Jack's eyes widened and his mouth hung agape at the mention of Bunnymund's Easter Eggs. No way was that rabbit going to steal his limelight. It was winter and it was Jack's turn to shine (even if no one knew it was his time). "Nuhuh. No way!"

The Winter Spirit shook his head, flying over to Rina and creating a snowball in his hand, blowing a cold breath on the snowball so it turned a magical shade blue. "If you can find those hard boiled eggs then you can throw this. Here ya go." Jack tossed the ball in front of Rina and he watched as the girl paused at the sight of it. She stared at it for a moment before scooping it into her hands.

"Sweet!" Rina grinned, bringing her arm back, looking for her first victim. Jamie came into view and before she got a chance to throw it, several snowballs hit her at once, causing her to fall to the snow covered ground.

"GOT YA!" Caleb and Claude laughed along with Monty, Pippa and Jamie. When Rina was busy making her own snowball, before Jack offered his, the rest of the kids planned on hitting her all at once. Jack snorted and laughed along with the children, not caring that Rina wasn't able to throw the ball he made for her.

"Horrible twerps…" Rina blew out, not getting up from the ground. She spread out her arms and closed her eyes, listening to the laughter. A small smile tugged on her lips and she sat up, running a hand through her hair. If she could see Jack, she would see that he was crouching in front of her, so close that it would seem that he didn't have a clue as to what personal space was.

"We really need to work on your aim," Jack chuckled and blew a cold breath at Rina's face. The girl's eyes widened and her hands immediately went to her face. Her cheeks were decorated with a cute blush and when her hands lowered to the scarf around her neck, he could clearly see how red the tip of her nose has gotten. He had nipped her!

Jack was just as shocked as Rina, not knowing what came over him to nip her. He rose to his feet and stumbled back, wondering why his usually cold cheeks were heating up. What was wrong with him, getting embarrassed like that? She couldn't even see him and Jack was acting like an idiot, trying to hide his own blush.

The Winter Spirit saw that Rina was about to say something when Jamie came into view, eyes wide with excitement and he was fidgeting with suppressed energy. Jack took this moment to look around the park. Why was he acting like Rina could see him? It was like he was looking for an excuse to break eye contact with her when it was plain as day that she wouldn't even know he was staring at her! If he wanted to run away, he could and she wouldn't even know.

He let out a sigh, not liking the effect the girl had on him. Jack "knew" her for a total of ten minutes and already she was able to send his mind into chaos with questions. He didn't like the fact that his heart leaped in his chest when he turned back to her only to see a confused pout on her lips as she stared at his general direction.

"Come on, Rina!" Jamie called, making Rina turn to him. Jack let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Maybe now would be a good time for him to leave. "Don't just sit there! We've got to run!"

"Run?" Rina asked, jumping to her feat. Looking around, she saw that Jamie's friends were gone. How long has it been since she was attacked by their merciless balls of snow? Did they somehow knock her unconscious and everything that has happened since was just her imagination? Surely it wasn't. If it were, Jamie would be worried, right? "Where is everyone?"

"We split into teams. We've got to hide!" Jamie laughed, dragging Rina away from the center of the park where they were in plain sight. Jack's ears perked when he heard that the game was far from over and caught up with Rina and Jamie. What was he thinking, running away? Rina couldn't see him! He could throw snowballs all he wants and she would never know it was him. He had no reason to hide.

"You guys won't mind if I join, do you?" Jack asked them as if they could hear him. He was so excited about the game that he completely forgot about nipping Rina's nose and the fact that Jamie and Rina didn't know he was talking to them. All of a sudden, snowballs from every direction came flying, attacking Rina and Jamie.

"Whoa!" Jack gasped, flying above the two before smirking when he saw Claude, Caleb, Pippa and Monty chucking snowball after snowball at Jamie and Rina. "Sneak attack. Nice," The Winter Spirit chuckled, waving his staff once more and dropping back to the snow covered ground. Rina and Jamie bent down, creating their own snowballs and Jack tossed one in his hand. "Let's beat these guys," he told Rina and Jamie, helping them attack their friends.

* * *

Jack couldn't believe he had left Rina alone in Pitch's Lair. Sure, the Mini Fairies were trapped as well but her cage was far from the flightless fairies. At least they had each other in imprisonment. Rina was alone, confused, scared and slowly being corrupted. Jack didn't want to leave, he wanted to stay with her but it was no use. He had to save Jamie and being with Rina wouldn't help anyway. She couldn't see or hear him. She no longer believed and if Jamie stopped as well, there was no hope in saving them, the children of the world and the Guardians.

The Winter Spirit felt his chest tighten at the reminder of Rina no longer believing and he urged the winds to go faster. He zoomed past the trees, ducking over branches, avoiding lampposts and the like. By the time he arrived at Jamie Bennett's window, he was just in time to hear the boy talking to this old plush rabbit. Jack leaned closer, trying to hear what Jamie was saying. He sounded so sad and conflicted and Jack prayed that he wasn't too late.

"I believed in you for a long time, okay? Like, my whole life, in fact. So you kinda owe me now." Jamie picked up the rabbit and held it close to his face, staring into its button eyes, urging it to answer him back. "You don't have to do much, just a little sign so I know. Anything. Anything at all."

The rabbit remained silent and Jack waited for Jamie's next move. Moments passed in silence and Jack swallowed the lump in his throat when Jamie slumped and dropped the toy to the floor.

"I knew it," Jamie whispered.

Jack moved without thinking. He slowly pushed Jamie's window open and slipped into his room. He watched as Jamie's eyes grew dark and he knew that if he didn't hurry, Jamie would truly stop believing. His faith was fading fast and Jack had to do something that would give Jamie the sign he was looking for. The Winter Spirit racked his brain for an idea. What could he possible do to make Jamie continue believing in the Guardians? Was there something he could do? Jack couldn't think of anything and tried to put himself in the Guardian's shoes.

What would North do?

What about Bunnymund or Tooth?

What would Sandy do?

Jack froze.

What would Rina do?

What did _he_ do to make Rina believe?

Jack turned to Jamie's window and he grinned when he found out what he could do. He prayed that he could draw something that resembled what he had in mind and he quickly blew frost onto the glass, drawing an Easter Egg on the icy surface. He remembered the time he doodled on Rina's window and he hoped that Jamie would be able to see it like she had. When Jack heard Jamie's soft gasp, he knew he was doing something right. The Winter Spirit blew on another window panel and drew a bunny.

_Please work_. Jack brought his hands out to the bunny drawing and moved it around, trying to see if he had the ability to do what he wanted to do. After a second passed, much to his surprise and delight, the drawing came out of the window, blue and crystal like, and hopped passed him, heading over to Jamie.

Jamie was thrilled at the sight of the frost rabbit, watching it leap around his bedroom. He followed it around before it burst into a hundred snowflakes above his head. Jamie's eyes widened at the sight.

"Snow?" Jamie asked, confused. How could it be snowing in his room? Then again, how did frost appear on his window along with the drawings of Easter Eggs and a rabbit? How did the rabbit come to life and hop around his room? A large snowflake landed and Jamie's nose and the boy's mind began to work. His eyes widened when an idea crossed his mind.

Could it be? But his mom said he was just an expression!

"Jack Frost?" The boy whispered, the name sounding appropriate.

"Did he just say…?" Jack trailed off at the mention of his name, looking at Jamie in awe and confusion. He was so busy marveling at the snow falling in Jamie's room that he almost forgot about the problem at hand. Was he hearing things? Jamie couldn't have possibly….

"Jack Frost…"

"He said it again." Jack muttered, slowly approaching Jamie's bed. "He said… you said…"

Jamie turned around, wondering why he was hearing a voice in his room, and his eyes widened and his jaw hung low when he saw a teenaged boy with snowy white hair and bright blue eyes standing in his bedroom. "Jack Frost." The name escaped his mouth in a breath of surprise. Was he dreaming? Surely this was a dream!

"That's right!" Jack said breathlessly, not knowing if he should shout out to the heavens or be quiet as to not scare Jamie. He wanted so much to rejoice! Another person could see him! Someone believed in him! "B – But that's me! Jack Frost!" The Winter Spirit sputtered out, trying his best to contain his excitement. "You said _my _name!"

Jamie continued to stare, his jaw and eyes widening. The teenager was now talking. This teenager was Jack Frost. He made it snow in his room and he was talking to him. Jack furrowed his brows and wondered why Jamie wasn't saying or doing anything. When the Guardians were in his room, he had no problem talking to them. Sure he was shocked at first but Jack could easily see how happy the kid was. Why wasn't it the same with him? A thought crossed Jack's mind and the Winter Spirit frowned.

"Wait." Jack needed to know if his hunch was right. He really hoped that it wasn't. "Can you hear me?"

When Jamie nodded, Jack wanted to scream out to the heavens once more but another important thought came.

"Can you _see _me?"

Jamie nodded once again, a small smile appearing on his lips.

The Winter Spirit let out a breathless laugh and suddenly his chest no longer felt tight with anxiety. It was like a heavy burden was lifted off of his shoulders. At that moment he forgot about Pitch and how betrayed the Guardians felt. He couldn't help but feel joy. This was exactly how he felt when Rina saw him for the first time. Someone believed in him. Jack couldn't believe it. He thought he just got lucky with Rina but now… Jamie could see him as well.

"He sees me! He sees me!" Jack wanted to cry with joy but instead he leaped into the air with a burst of laughter.

"You just made it snow!" Jamie remarked, finding his voice.

"I know!" Jack replied, not daring to stop the snow from falling. Could this really be happening? Jack didn't want to doubt it but it was too good to be true! After three hundred years, someone could finally see him!

"In my room."

"I _know!"_

"You're real?"

"Yeah," Jack began to get excited as he began telling Jamie all of the things he's done. How he brings blizzards and snow days and that he was the one who sent Jamie flying on his sled the other day. Jamie was ecstatic to find out that Jack was behind the most awesome sledding experience he had.

"But what about the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy?"

"Real, real, real!" Jack said. "Every one of us is real!"

"I knew it!" Jamie cheered. "I've got to tell Rina!"

The grin on Jack's face was immediately replaced by a frown and suddenly he felt his chest tighten once more. How could he forget? How dare he forget about Rina? Jamie believes again and that meant he was one step closer to defeating Pitch. The Bennett boy saw the Winter Spirit's expression, how it changed from happy to sad, and his brows knitted in wonder.

"What's wrong?"

"Rina… doesn't believe anymore…" Jack said slowly, each word like a stab to his chest. He knew that it was true but saying it out loud and to Jamie of all people made it hurt a hundred times more than it did when he found out. He watched as Jamie's eyes clouded with disbelief and he wished he didn't say anything in the first place.

"No…" Jamie whispered, shaking his head slowly. "You're kidding, right? Rina can't stop believing! She's been hanging out with Lyndi for how long and she still believed! She can't stop just like that! It's not possible!"

* * *

Rina fought to keep her eyes open as she let out a shaky breath. She was now pinned down to the floor of her cage by the sand and, if her hunch was right, her face was the only thing that remained sand free. Well, most of her face. Slowly but surely the sand was making it's way past her neck and it seemed determined to envelop her in its rough embrace. The girl squirmed under the sand's hold but every time she did, it just tightened its grip on her. She feared that if she continued to fight against it, she would no longer be able to breath. Rina let out a whine when she felt her chest tighten.

"Please stop. Please." Rina whimpered softly, giving in to closing her eyes. She didn't want to see the happy memories. With her being trapped in the cage, she didn't want to be reminded that she was once free and happy. That she had a life before being imprisoned. The girl sucked in a scared gasp when the memory she entered was far from happy.

_Irina brought her hands up to her eyes and violently wiped the tears away, cursing the fact that they just kept on streaming down her face. Why couldn't they stop? It didn't seem possible for her to have so much water in her system that she could continuously cry. She let out a strangled yell in frustration when her attempt was useless, bringing her hands down to her sides and continued trudging away from her source of anger. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. Irina was normally composed and silent but now she was sure she looked like some evil witch from a kid's nightmare._

"_Irina, wait!" Someone called out to her, grabbing hold of her wrist, stopping her from going any further._

"_Let go of me!" Irina cried out, snatching her arm back and whirling around to glare at Jack through her tears. The boy brought his hand back, a hurt expression on his face when Irina lashed out at him. "Don't you dare touch me again, Jack."_

"_Come on, Irina, calm down." The boy said carefully, not wanting to give the girl any more reason to cry or yell at him. _

_Just seeing how hurt she was killed him inside._

"_Ha!" Irina barked a sarcastic laugh, bringing her hands to her hips. "The nerve of you to tell me to calm down!"_

"_Irina, I said I was sorry! What more can I say?" Jack breathed out, honestly not knowing what he could say or do to make things right between them again. _

_All those years of friendship just seemed to be thrown out the window with this one argument. It was a known fact that the two constantly got on each other's nerves but their squabbles never seemed to matter after a few minutes of being mad at each other. By the end of the day, they'd be sitting by the pond, wondering why they fought in the first place. Now, Jack wondered if they would ever find themselves by the pond, wondering about their fight now. _

_Something told Jack that this fight wasn't going to be an easy "forgive and forget." Deep inside, Jack knew Irina would never forget this fight._

"_You've said enough, Jack." Irina hissed at him, her voice like venom. She turned to walk away but Jack stopped her once again. He didn't want to lose her. "Why can't you just let me go?" The girl yelled, frustrated. She told him to not touch her yet he still did. She didn't want to have anything to do with him yet Jack didn't seem to get the message. Irina wanted to walk out and stay away from him as far as possible but Jack had other things in mind._

"_I can't do that, Irina," Jack said simply, hating himself that he was the reason for her anger and tears. "If I let you go now I don't know if I'll ever have you back."_

"_That's your own fault. You did say you don't need me, right? That's I'm just an annoying pest? A lost puppy? I don't think you want me back!" Irina let out a sob. When she finished talking, she realized that she was more hurt than angry now. She felt her knees buckle beneath her and she fell to the ground pathetically. Hearing those words escape Jack's mouth was like having someone stab her heart repeatedly and with no mercy. _

"_I didn't mean that, Irina! I was angry and I –"_

"_You said it, Jack! If you said it then you were thinking it! You mean it!" Irina didn't give him a chance to explain himself. She didn't want to hear him say anything else. His voice made her remember all the things her said. It hurt too much._

"_Irina, I was _angry_. You say stupid things when you're mad," Jack let out a sigh, falling to the ground as well so that he wasn't looking down on her. "Irina, please, let me explain…" The boy reached out to her. She flinched when he got close and Jack felt his chest tighten. It was like she was afraid of him._

"_I don't want to hear it! You're just going to lie to me again! That what this all was, wasn't it? A lie? Some kind of prank?"_

"_It's not like that!"_

"_I don't believe you, Jack!" _

"_After all these years, Irina, you're just going to throw our friendship away?" Jack wasn't sure if he wanted to hear her answer or not._

"_Why not? That's what you did," Irina said softly, exhausted. She brought her hands up to wipe away her tears once more. _

_Jack furrowed his brows and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to think of what he could say to make Irina listen to him. He didn't mean to hurt her. He didn't mean to say what he did. He was angry, hurt and confused and the words left his mouth before he could stop them. Jack knew he wasn't good with his feelings. He hung around kids and acted like one because it was easier. Being a kid without a care in the world was so much easier than being a teenager. You didn't have to deal with your emotions or think about your actions. If you did something wrong, people would still forgive you because you are young and stupid. Once you were eighteen, things aren't as easy anymore. The boy looked back at Irina and sucked in a breath. Here goes everything._

"_I was an idiot, okay? It was stupid of me to say those things – angry or not. You can hate me if you want, Irina, but please believe me when I say that I don't think you're an annoying pest or a lost puppy. I need you and I – I … Damn, are you going to make me say it? I actually lo –"_

"Wake up, my Nightmare Princess. I have something that I want you to do for me…"

* * *

**BOOM! THE DRAMA CONTINUES!**

**Sorry for my nearly three week long absence. After my update on New Year's Day, I spent the rest of my vacation doing my assignments and when I got back to school I had to do school work (duh) and this past week was pretty stressful for me. I'm going to be a Student-Teacher so I had a lot of things to prepare and had no time to think about writing or anything else for that matter. **

**I'm really sorry.**

**Anyway, this chapter is my longest one yet, I believe, and we can see some really dramatic stuff at the end. It's a bit confusing isn't it? You're all probably wondering what caused Jack to say such hurtful things and how everything happened, huh? Well, all your questions would be answered in this fic's sequel.**

**Yep. You read that right.**

**There's going to be a sequel once this is done.**

**I'm planning Frosted Glass to have at most 20 chapter so once that's done, the sequel will be up and running :) Hopefully I'll see you guys there once I have it up.**

**Moving on, I just want to thank all of you who read, reviewed, followed and added this fic to their favorites. I know I say this all the time but I really can't thank you all enough! You're all so awesome!**

**BTW. Shout out to Minallys for making such an amazing fanart of Rina and Jack! It was simply amazing and I love it so much!**

**Another BTW I put my twitter account on my profile. You don't have to follow me. You can just check out my tweets to see if I'm updating, having a hard time updating or slacking off. You know, just so you know I haven't died or dropped off the face of the planet.**

**OH!**

**Another shout out to my good friend RenakhiteInk who I am having a collaboration with. The fic is titled "The Winter's Heart" and it's on her profile. Check it out. I have high hopes for that fic.**

**Am I missing anything else?**

**If you want to ask me questions or just have a chat, you can always PM me. I always reply :) So if you're confused, curious or just want to have someone to chat with, I'm here for you.**

**Okay. This A/N is getting really long so I'm going to wrap things up now.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really do. I'm sorry if anyone seemed out of character. I really try my best.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter which I hope will be up soon.**

**Thank you all so much again.**

**I love you all.**

**I'm incredibly sorry for any typos, grammatical errors and the like**

**and**

**I only own what I own.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen:**

Two weeks before Winter Vacation started, Rina Licia Snowe stomped into her blue and white bedroom dragging a large, brown moving box behind her. Before she came home, she had a heated conversation with her best friend, Lyndi, which resulted in her having to face her fears and venture into her house's basement just for her to find such a box. Lyndi wasn't all too happy with the way Rina has been acting as of late (_how _her attitude differed from any other day was a mystery to her) and forced the girl to "grow up". Rina wasn't much for fights and, not wanting to anger Lyndi further, gave into her friend's request.

According to Lyndi, the first step to "growing up" was getting rid of anything and everything that was tying Rina to her childhood.

Rina threw the empty box carelessly into her room and slammed her door shut with a huff. The weather outside was nearly freezing yet the girl had worked up a sweat just bringing the box up the staircase and into her room. She had yet to begin her first step "growing up" and already she was fed up with the idea. Rina was just about to have seconds thoughts on her decision when her phone vibrated in her pocket. Holding back a groan, Rina brought out the device and saw that she had received a message from none other than Lyndi Clayton.

_Darling! _The text read. _I'm so happy that you saw things my_ _way and I do hope you're already throwing out your ghastly_ _toys and posters! Don't forget, I'm coming over around seven-ish to celebrate you first step to being a woman! XOXO Lyndi._

Not bothering to reply, Rina tossed her phone onto her bed and began working. There wasn't much time left before Lyndi came over.

The first things Rina placed into her moving box were her posters. Her blue and white walls were covered with pictures of cartoon characters, mascots, elves, fairies, wizards, and other fictional and mythical beings you could think of. There were even some of her own drawings posted on her wall that Rina knew Lyndi would deem "childish". Gingerly, she peeled the posters and her artworks off and folded them up before putting them into her box.

Looking at her walls now, Rina realized that she should have removed her posters ages ago seeing as her walls actually got a bit dusty with them posted.

Rina's next move was to sort out her DVDs and books. Every time Lyndi came over to have a movie marathon, she would complain about all the kiddie movies Rina had and, now, she, Rina, figured Lyndi would be pretty happy to know that she was getting rid of those. Scanning her collection, Rina immediately gathered her _Disney _movies into her arms and tossed them into the box to join her posters. Pop-out books, fairytales and the like soon followed and Rina discovered that without her "Evidence of Childhood", her room was close to being deserted.

The girl's plush toys were the last to go and she struggled to push all her stuffed animals and dolls into her box. They were too many and they were too big to fit inside along with the posters, DVDs and books. Rina knew she had to get another box but she couldn't bring herself to go back down to the basement to fetch another one. She also didn't like the thought of coming back up to her room to finish the job for she feared that if she saw how _sad _her dolls looked, she would just end up putting everything back to where they were.

Lyndi wasn't going to appreciate that.

"What am I going to do?" Rina breathed out, falling onto the couch she kept under her window with a dejected sigh.

Outside, she could see Jamie and his friends running around, building snowmen and throwing snowballs at each other. Before acting on Lyndi's orders, Jamie had invited Rina to join them but the girl had to decline. Seeing them now, Rina knew she made the wrong decision. She should have never listened to Lyndi, but it was too late. She had already begun and she couldn't just stop halfway.

All of a sudden, Rina felt a shiver run down her spine and she leaned her back against her couch's armrest in shock as she watched her window frost in a peculiar manner. It looked like vines were forming on the glass and before Rina could observe them further, the vines disappeared and the frost looked like normal, boring frost she saw form on windows every winter. The girl furrowed her brows in confusion and was just about to dismiss what she saw as her imagination when her window began to squeak from the writing that was being written on the frost.

_What are you doing?_

The message read before disappearing and being replaced by another layer of frost. Rina let out a scared scream, falling out of her couch in shock. She scrambled back until she hit her moving box, her heart beating rapidly against her chest as a million questions ran through her mind, trying to reassure herself that she wasn't going crazy.

She was imagining things, right? Frost couldn't write on its own, right? She was probably tired from all her "growing up" and was beginning to hallucinate, right? Surely her mind was just playing tricks on her!

"What in the…." Rina trailed off, being brought out of her thoughts when another message was being written. Looking at the writing, she saw that it was a boy's scrawl on her window.

_I'm not going to hurt you. _It said before being replaced with: _I just want to know what you are doing._

"I'm dreaming," Rina shook her head, shakily getting back on her feet. The message was gone and Rina saw frost decorating her window once more. "I probably fell and hit my head when I was removing my posters! This is all some stupid dream."

_Do you always talk to yourself?_

Rina's eyes widened at the message and acted without thinking. She scrambled on her couch and forcefully opened her window, allowing a cold breeze to blow in.

Stray pieces of paper flew around her room but Rina paid no mind to them. Instead, she stuck half her body out of her window and looked around, trying to see what was making the frost and writing the messages. To her left, she saw her parents' bedroom window and to her right, she saw the guest bathroom's window. Looking down, she saw the snow covered pavement, straight ahead were Jamie and his friends and when she looked up, she was greeted by snow falling on her face.

Spluttering, Rina brought herself back into her room, shut her window and wiped the snow away with her jumper's sleeve. The girl frowned and glared at her window, seeing the frost form once again.

_Hahaha! _She could practically _hear _the boy's laughter. _You should have seen your face!_

"That wasn't funny!" Rina growled, folding her arms across her chest. "Who are you?"

_According to you, I'm a dream._

"If you were a dream," Rina began, bringing her sleeve back to her face to wipe away the stray drops of water the snow left behind. "I should have woken up when you attacked me."

_I did not attack you!_

"Then who did?" The girl squinted her eyes at the frost.

_Gravity. _

Was the simple answer.

Rina rolled her eyes and slumped into her couch. The message disappeared as quickly as it came and Rina didn't bother with continuing the conversation. She brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them close, and looked towards her moving box. Just as she thought, her stuffed animals were peering at her with sad, pathetic eyes that made Rina's stomach churn with guilt. If Lyndi heard her describe her plush toys' faces, the girl would think her crazy. Lyndi would say it was impossible for Rina's toys to look anything but happy seeing as their smiles were _stitched _onto their faces and it was absolutely absurd to see sadness in their button eyes.

Lyndi wouldn't understand because she never had a stuffed toy and she wouldn't know the emotional attachment one would get if they had one.

"I was growing up," Rina muttered, turning her attention back to her window. The frost was still there and she figured that who ever was messing with her mind was too.

_Growing up?_

Rina nodded her head. "My friend said I was too old to play with stuffed toys, watch _Disney_ movies and believe in mythical beings like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy," the girl explained, happy that she was alone in her house. If her mother and father walked into her room to catch her talking to her window, they would send her to her school's psychologist. "She said I had to grow up."

_You are never too old to believe._

"What?"

_They aren't a myth. _

"Santa and the Tooth Fairy?" Rina asked, readjusting her position. "Do you have proof?"

_No need for proof. _Rina frowned. _Belief is enough._

"Belief, huh?" Rina felt a smile tugging on her lips for some unknown reason. Fighting the smile, she asked, "Who are you?"

_A friend._

* * *

Before Jack could explain to Jamie why Rina no longer believed, thunder roared outside of Jamie's window, making the two turn towards it. In the distance, Jack saw a familiar looking sleigh soaring through the sky. It seemed to be out of control and, much to Jack and Jamie's surprise, crashed. Jack and Jamie immediately rushed out of Jamie's house and towards North's sleigh. It had crashed in Jamie's yard and the reindeer got loose and made a break for the woods. North called out to them but they didn't turn back. Tooth, getting over the ride and crash, tried to fly out of North's sleigh but fell to the pavement instead. She wasn't strong enough to support herself anymore.

"I guess that doesn't work anymore," The Tooth Fairy admitted to herself in defeat. She didn't like the feeling of her feet on the ground. It felt weird, foreign.

"What are you doing here?" North asked Jack once the Winter Spirit was within hearing distance. He, North, leaned against his sword, feeling very weak. For the first time in years, he felt his age.

"Same as you," Jack replied easily, stepping aside to reveal Jamie, the last child on earth who still believed in the Guardians. If North and Tooth were this weak with just one child believing, Jack didn't want to know what would happen to them if he didn't reach Jamie in time. The thought sent a shiver down his spine.

"Wow! It is you!" said Jamie, looking at North and Tooth in awe. All those nights he'd spent trying to stay up long enough to catch at least _glimpse _of his heroes didn't prepare him for this. "I knew it wasn't a dream!"

"Jack!" North exclaimed, looking over to the white haired boy, with glee shining in his tired, blue eyes. "He sees you!"

The Winter Spirit was about to respond when he realized someone was missing. Looking around, he brows knitted together in thought and worry. "Wait, where's Bunny?"

North looked down at the ground and Jack felt his chest tighten. Had something happened when he left? Was Bunny gone? Gone-gone like Sandy? He couldn't be… That Bunny wouldn't go down without a fight! Jack was sure of it!

"Bunny wasn't so lucky," the man said sadly. Behind him, a small, fluffy bunny with the Easter Bunny's color scheme hopped out of North's sleigh, his nose twitching. The bunny looked around with large, green eyes and Jack didn't even feel the urge to laugh. If the circumstances were different, the Winter Spirit was so sure that he would be rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach in laughter.

"Oh no," Jack muttered, taking in the regular-sized bunny.

"_That's _the Easter Bunny?" Jamie let out a giggle.

"_Now _somebody sees me?" The regular-sized bunny huffed out, frustrated. It was quite a shock that even though Bunny dropped down in size, his voice remained the same. "Where were you an hour ago, mate?"

* * *

Pitch Black was floating on his nightmare sand in the air above the Guardians and Jamie, watching them foolishly get their hopes up about making the rest of the children of the world believe in the Guardians again. How big a difference could one little boy do? He was just a kid! They were easily influenced. Once he got his hands on him, there would no longer be any child on earth who believed in the Guardians.

The Nightmare King chuckled under his breath and turned his attention to the figure floating beside him.

The figure was a short and frail looking girl with deathly pale skin and a mess of dirty blonde hair being held back by a sparkly black headband made out of his nightmare sand. She wore a matching long-sleeved dress that reached just above her knees and midnight black tights tucked into boots. Her golden eyes were focused on the scene happening below her and Pitch felt a smirk tugging on his lips.

"My Nightmare Princess," Pitch called, drawing the girl's attention to him. Her face remained expressionless as gold met gold. "Do you see those fools?"

The Nightmare Princess's eyes darted back to the group. "Yes," she replied.

"Do you see the little boy with them?"

"Yes."

"We have to do something about him," The Nightmare King said.

"What must we do?" The girl asked, her thin brow rising in question.

Pitch let out a dark chuckle as his nightmare sand began to swarm beneath him and the Nightmare Princess. "We must make him stop believing of course," he said. "Would you like to do the honors?"

The corner of the Nightmare Princess's mouth twitched and she slowly raised her hands, palms pointing skyward. At the action, the sky began to rumble and a roar of thunder came, shocking the Guardians and Jamie. They immediately looked up and caught sight of Pitch's nightmare sand.

"Get Jamie out of here," The Nightmare Princess heard the Winter Spirit order.

"What are you going to do?" North's voice came.

"I have no idea," Jack admitted, making the Nightmare Princess laugh under her breath.

She looked down at Burgess and watched with mild amusement as the Guardians hurried away with Jamie. Once his friends were far enough, the Winter Spirit jumped up and flew furiously fast towards Pitch. He, Jack, had not noticed the Nightmare Princess floating just a few feet away from the King of Nightmares.

The Nightmare Princess saw Pitch's eyes widen in shock, not expecting Jack to _fly_ towards him after what he had done to him in Antarctica. Nevertheless, the Nightmare King recollected himself and, with a sigh, flew down to meet the angered Winter Spirit. The Princess stayed afloat, watching the scene below her unfold.

Jack Frost and Pitch Black sailed right into each other and tumbled throughout the town. Snow and nightmare sand swirled everywhere as Pitch tried to obtain Jack's staff once again. The Nightmare King figured that if he broke it once, he could break it again.

Wanting a closer look, the Nightmare Princess ordered the nightmare sand to lower.

"You should've stayed out of this, Jack," She heard her King warn. The two were now rising above the town and the Princess had to follow them quietly. She did not want to be seen by the Winter Spirit. "If you had, it would be over by now. And you'd be no worse off."

"But everyone else would be," said Jack, angrily.

"Since when do you care about everyone else?" Pitch asked. The Princess watched as his expression slowly turned sinister. "Was it that girl? Did she somehow convert you Jack?"

"Shut up," Jack grunted.

"What was her name again? Rina? Irina?" The Nightmare King continued, ignoring Jack's order. "Oh well, potato – potatoe. It doesn't matter now, does it, Jack? She's gone now. You couldn't save her. You were too late."

"I said –"

Pitch Black didn't give Jack a chance to continue. With a jerk of his head, the Nightmare Princess felt the sand she was standing on move so that she was now floating behind the Nightmare King and in clear view of the Winter Spirit. Her golden eyes met Jack's crystal blue ones and she watched as his slowly began to widen upon recognition. His mouth hung agape in shock and Pitch took this as his chance to taunt the boy further.

"Doesn't she look familiar, Jack? Look into her large eyes and tell me she doesn't ring a bell," Pitch chuckled, his sand bringing the Nightmare Princess closer. "Sure, they aren't the same _disgusting _green they were before but surely you recognize her. After all, you _loved _her didn't you?"

"What have you done to her?" Jack breathed out, taking in the Nightmare Princess's appearance. She looked at him with bored eyes. When was her King going to finish him off? They needed to get the kid to stop believing if they wanted the world to live in fear. "Rina?"

The Nightmare Princess quirked her brow in question, the name foreign to her.

"She doesn't go by that anymore, Jack," Pitch told the Winter Spirit. "Meet my Nightmare Princess, Black Out."

"No…"

"Yes!" The Nightmare King let out a laugh.

Not believing what he was hearing, Jack Frost let out a burst of energy and pulled his staff free from Pitch's grip. The action was sudden but it didn't stop the Nightmare King. Just when the Winter Spirit made a move to Black Out, Pitch Black snapped his fingers and, without protest, Black Out raised her hands and ordered the nightmare sand to grab hold of Jack's staff.

"Rina…No…" Jack whispered, his chest tightening. He looked into Black Out's golden eyes; trying to see past them and find the girl he spoke with through the frost and used to hang out with when he was still alive.

Black Out blinked, taken back from the intensity of the Winter Spirit's gaze. She; however, did not let this stop her from doing what she was about to do next. "My name's Black Out," The Nightmare Princess smirked and, with a flick of her hands, made the sand twist around Jack's staff and pulled it away from his grasp.

Without his staff, Jack couldn't fly. Pitch and Black Out waved good-bye as Jack fell to the ground.

* * *

**Hey! Long time no see, huh?**

**I'm really sorry about the three month delay on this chapter.**

**School's been eating up my time and I really couldn't find the inspiration to write...**

**UNTIL NOW.**

**Just a heads up, I SHOULD be studying for Science but the moment I got home, I used the internet and when I was JUST about to open my notes, this idea came to mind and I ended up working on this...Yeah... That's a good student...**

**Anyway, I just want to say sorry if this chapter isn't much. It's shorter than the previous one and it's practically more movie than anything and I fear that my sentences and grammar don't make much sense or... something... SORRY, my head is all fuzzy and I'm just typing out what's coming to my mind...**

**I promise to do better in the next chapter.**

**Once again, sorry...**

**I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I hope to get the last two out before Easter =)**

**Please tell what you all thought about this, reviews are always welcomed...**

**What else am I missing...?**

**... Darn... My mind is really fuzzy...**

**I should REALLY be studying now. Science isn't really easy.**

**Okay. Yeah.**

**On a last note...**

**I'm sorry for the typos, grammatical errors and the like.**

**I really do hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please tell me what you all thought about it.**

**Stay tuned for the next one**

**and**

**I only own what I own.**

**(PS. I love you all!)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen:**

Jack woke with a start when her heard the sounds of the people in his village scrambling around and calling out a name he couldn't really distinguish due to his windows being shut. He blinked the sleep away from his eyes and rose from his bed, running his hand through his mess of hair. He had stayed up late the previous night and his brain was still trying to process what was happening around him.

Smacking his lips together, Jack squinted at his window, wondering why his fellow village people were so active so early in the morning. The boy decided to push his window open; hoping to ask what all the commotion was about, when his bedroom door burst open.

"Irina?" Emma asked, looking into Jack's room before groaning. The girl she was searching for was nowhere in sight. Emma was just about to turn around and continue looking for her friend when she was stopped by her brother.

"Whoa, Emma! What are you doing?" Jack called out, swinging his feet off his bed and standing up. The sudden rush came over him and made him lose balance for a moment but he caught himself before he could embarrass himself in front of his sister.

"What am I doing? What are _you _doing?" Emma shot back, her expression frantic. "What are you doing in bed? You should be helping us!"

Jack furrowed his brows in confusion. "Helping? Em, calm down, you're not making any sense." Jack began, approaching his sister.

"How can I calm down when Irina, your _best friend, _is missing?"

If Jack wasn't awake before, he was now. The boy's eyes widened and, without warning, he pushed Emma out of his bedroom and urged her to tell him what was going on as they made their way out of their home. It was obvious that Irina wasn't there and they would be wasting their time if they just stayed there while Emma was explaining the situation to him. The boy's heart beat rapidly against his chest and it didn't help calm it down when he saw that practically everyone in the village was looking for the green-eyed girl.

"How long has she been missing?" Jack asked his sister, looking around as they trudged through the wet grass. It had rained the previous night.

"Since last night," Emma said, worry evident in her voice. "We've been looking for her since the crack of dawn."

"Last night?" Jack breathed out, running his hand through his hair again. He had spent most of last night with Irina, by the pond, talking and joking around. "That…that can't be possible! I was with her last night! I even walked her home…"

"Well, she's gone now," Emma sniffed. She had been searching both high and low the moment Irina's mother barged into their home, begging them to tell her that Irina was there. "Jack," The girl's voice broke. The stress of losing a friend was weighing heavily on her young shoulders. "I'm scared. What if we never find her?"

The sound of his sister's teary voice made Jack kneel down to her level. He placed his hands on her shoulders and made her look at him. Emma looked straight into her brother's brown eyes, they were identical to hers, and saw that he was just as scared and worried as she was. His face was expressionless, it was his way of showing people that he was calm, but Emma knew that the moment he heard the news of Irina's disappearance, he was anything but relaxed.

"Hey, there's no need for that kind of thinking," Jack told her, his voice low and steady. It amazed Emma how calm he appeared. "We're going to find her."

"But we looked everywhere!" Emma let out a sob. The girl shook her brother's hands away from her as she reached up to wipe away her tears. It wasn't like Irina was the type to run away from home and the thought of her friend being kidnapped scared Emma senseless. She had come to love Irina as her sister and if something bad happened to her, Emma didn't know what she would do.

Jack knew his sister wasn't the type of girl who cried over nothing. When she got hurt or didn't get things done her way, she usually sucked it up and did something about it. The only time she ever did cry was when she was scared. When she climbed up a tree and got stuck, she cried and Jack was the one who got her back down. When there was a raging storm, Emma cried and Jack was the one who cheered her up again.

Now, Irina was nowhere in sight and Emma was troubling herself with negative thoughts. Jack knew he had to steer his sister's thoughts in another direction.

"_Shh_, Emma," Jack began, wrapping his arms around his sister. He was no expert in comforting crying girls, but, from the two girls he witnessed crying, he knew that hugging usually calmed them down. "There's no need to cry. Irina is fine. We're going to find her, okay?"

"How can you be so calm?" Emma chocked, pushing her brother away. "She's not in her house, she's not in _our _house, her friends haven't seen her since yesterday and she's not at the pond!" She sucked in a breath. "She's _nowhere, _Jack! What if she was kidnapped? Or worse –"

"Emma, I think you should go back home," Jack interrupted his sister, scooping her up into his arms. Emma protested but Jack would have none of it. He readjusted her so that he wouldn't drop her and he began walking back to their house. "You've been looking for her since morning. Let me handle this."

"But –"

"Don't worry, I'll find her," Jack gave her a grin. "I promise."

* * *

Black Out held Jack's staff behind her back as she watched, with mild amusement; Jamie and the powerless Guardians attempt to get away from Pitch's nightmares. The regular bunny-sized Bunnymund scampered across the rode and led his fellow Guardians and Jamie into an alley. To their shock, it was a dead end. A small smile graced Black Out's lips when she saw Jack falling into a Dumpster with a harsh _thud. _The Winter Spirit bounced off the surface and fell onto the floor.

Without Pitch's orders, the Nightmare Princess quietly inched the sand she was standing on closer to the Guardians, Jack and Jamie.

"That was a good try, Jack!" Black Out heard North say encouragingly as the Winter Spirit slowly got back on his feet. "_A _for effort!"

"My staff is gone," Jack said, looking up at the sky. He expected to see Black Out waving his staff at him in mockery but was surprised to see that she was not there. Did he imagine the whole thing? Was Black Out just an illusion? Was Rina still trapped in a cage in Pitch's Lair?

A million thoughts ran through the Winter Spirit's mind but he knew that no matter what he came up with in his mind, what he saw and what Pitch told him was true. Rina had stopped believing in the Guardians and in him and turned into Pitch's Nightmare Princess, Black Out.

The name, though he had not uttered it, left a bad taste in his mouth and he knew he had to do something about it. He could not leave Rina like that. He would not let her be Pitch's Nightmare Princess.

Shaking his thoughts away, Jack was just about to comment on Black Out's sudden disappearance when thunder cracked behind them and a shadow began to creep along the walls of the alley. The Guardians and Jack stepped closer to one another, keeping Jamie in the middle to protect him.

"All this fuss over one little boy," Pitch's voice boomed. "And still he refuses to stop believing. Very Well. There are other ways to snuff out a light."

The Nightmare Princess smirked when Pitch's shadow began to break the lights in the alley, making Jamie cower in fear. Bunnymund hopped forward.

"You want him, you're gonna have to go through me!" The bunny said bravely.

Pitch Black let out a laugh and Black Out jumped off of her nightmare sand and landed gracefully in front of the Guardians, Jack and Jamie, shocking them. She dug Jack's staff into the pavement, hugged it to her body, and gave them all a smile. The Guardian's eyes widened with shock and she saw Jamie's mouth hung agape with disbelief.

"Is that…" Tooth trailed off, not believing what she was seeing.

"No! It couldn't be!" North said turning his attention towards Jack who refused to look at Black Out. Instead, his crystal blue eyes were focused on his staff that was still being held captive by the Nightmare Princess.

"Look how fluffy he is, Pitch!" Black Out ignored the comments the Guardian's were saying and approached Bunnymund, squatting in front of him. "You think he'd want a scratch behind his ears?"

Bunnymund flinched away from Black Out's touch, staring up at her with his large green eyes. Something they once had in common. Black Out took no offense in the bunny's retreat. In fact, she was happy to see that he didn't want her to touch him. It just showed that he didn't trust her. Black Out stood upright and made eye contact with Jamie. The boy held her gaze for a few seconds before casting his eyes down.

"Don't you even think about it!" The Nightmare Princess heard Bunny exclaim, scampering away from Pitch's shadow. The Nightmare King had attempted to scratch Bunny behind his ears. Bunny jumped into the safety of North's arms and Black Out jumped back onto her nightmare sand.

The Nightmare Princess folded her legs underneath her, sat down and placed Jack's staff on her lap while Pitch's shadow was replaced by the sound of hooves trotting down the alley's pavement. The real Pitch appeared, riding on Onyx.

"I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see you all like this," The Nightmare King said. "You look awful."

"It's adorable how they think they can still protect little Jamie," Black Out grinned, giving Jamie a small wave.

"Jack," Jamie began in a small voice, making the Winter Spirit turn to him. "I'm scared."

Black Out watched as Jack's eyes widened when a memory stirred in him. The Winter Spirit was brought back into his previous life when his sister was saying the exact same thing when the ice beneath them began to crack. Jack remembered how he had assured her that she was going to be all right. This memory made Jack realize what he had to do.

"What are they talking about, Pitch?" Black Out asked, turning around to face her King. Before the Boogeyman could reply, a snowball zoomed right past Black Out's head and straight into his face. The Nightmare Princess' eyes widened in shock and just when she turned to look for the source, she was hit as well.

The force of the snowball was such a shock to the girl that it sent her flying out of her nightmare sand. She collided harshly with the alley's pavement and when she let out a groan of pain escape her lips, she heard Jamie let out a giggle. The Nightmare Princess slowly rose and wiped the snow away from her face, a scowl on her lips. She was just about to yell at the Guardians, Jack and Jamie when she realized that they were no longer there.

In their place was a long streak of Jack's ice that created a path out of the alley and, in the distance; Black Out could hear the Guardians, Jack's and Jamie's laughter. She was just about to hop back onto her nightmare sand when she felt a tingling sensation on the tip of her nose. Before her eyes, she saw blue and white sparkles and snowflakes dancing and she felt a small giggle erupt from her lips.

The sound shocked her. It was so foreign and light and it made her feel…_happy. _Another giggle dared to escape her mouth but she wasn't able to let it free for Pitch grabbed her, hauled her onto Onyx and, in a blink of an eye, disappeared from the alley way.

* * *

A few minutes after the Guardians and Jamie's escape, Black Out found herself standing on a rooftop with Pitch, watching Jack, the Guardians, and Jamie and his friends sledding down Burgess' streets on the path of ice Jack was making. They were a noisy bunch and the Nightmare Princess was shocked that they had not woken up everybody in the village with their joyous squeals and laughter. The sound burned her ears and made her clench her teeth. If they continued being as happy as they were, she was sure she would end up breaking Jack's staff in half.

The Nightmare Princess could not let another laugh escape her lips. If she did, Pitch would get suspicious and that wouldn't be good. The laugh was bubbling in her chest and the longer she held it in, the harder it became. Trying to focus her attention on something else, she looked to the staff and admired it. Her gaze was intense and when Pitch glanced at her, he mistook the intensity in her eyes as something else.

"Patience, my princess," Pitch's voice snapped the girl out of her thoughts, making her look up at him. The Boogeyman; however, did not look back at her. Instead, he churned his nightmare sand, covering the sky above the town in pitch-black darkness. The sight made Black Out smile.

"You think a few children can help you?" Pitch chided the Guardians. "Against this?"

Pitch Black and Black Out directed the nightmare sand to wind its way through the town. Everything the sand touched was destroyed and the sound of breaking made a shiver run down Black Out's spine. She moved her arms around and made the sand she was controlling make its way towards the group.

Jack saw Black Out's intentions and bent down to Jamie's height. "They're just bad dreams," he assured him, seeing the fear in his brown eyes.

"But what about Rina?" Pippa asked, her brows knitting together.

"That's not Rina," Jack frowned, straightening up. The sound of her name made his chest tighten but now was not the time to show weakness. The Guardians weren't as strong as before and if Jack showed how hurt he was by the girl's transformation, that would be the same as letting Pitch win. He'd deal with Rina after he dealt with Pitch. "That's Black Out."

"But –" Monty began.

"Nothing to worry about, mate," Bunny interrupted him as he, Jack, Tooth, and North moved in front of the children, blocking them from the nightmare sand. "We'll protect you."

"_Awww!_" Black Out let out a laugh. From the other's point of view, it was sinister, but, in reality, it was the laugh she had been holding in for so long. "Did you hear that, Pitch? Did you?"

"You'll protect them?" Pitch sneered. "But who'll protect you?"

Jamie looked up at Rina and straight into her golden eyes. The Nightmare Princess caught his gaze and raised her brow at him. There was no hint of playfulness in her actions nor did Jamie sense the warmth he normally did whenever Rina was around. Jack was right. She was no longer the Rina he, and everyone else, knew. She was Black Out.

The boy sucked in a cold breath of air and looked around at his friends. They all looked even more scared than he did but Jamie did not let this affect him. _They're just bad dreams, _He reminded himself. _Do not let Pitch win. _

"I will!" Jamie volunteered, answering Pitch's question, stepping forward.

Black Out's brows rose at Jamie's actions and her eyes widened when she saw Cupcake, Pippa, Monty, Claude and Caleb doing the same. The children were now standing in front of the Guardians, protecting them. They were merely kids, not even thirteen, and yet they were going to protect the beings that most people stopped believing in. They were going to protect _myths, legends, and fairytale characters! _The very action confused Black Out and when she saw the nightmare sand rushing towards Jamie and his friends, not caring that they were just children, she had to look away.

"They're just bad dreams!" Jamie reminded his friends, raising his hand.

Jamie's friends followed his actions and they each put their hands out as the nightmare sand barreled into them. The wave of sand was so overwhelming and when Black Out forced herself to look back at them, she could no longer see the Guardians, Jack or the kids. Something stirred inside of her and before she could stop herself, she jumped down from the roof, shocking her King.

"NO!" Black Out exclaimed, fear showing in her golden eyes, as she rushed towards the area she knew they were standing in.

Before she reached the children, Jack and the Guardians, something unexpected happened, making her stop her sprint. Black Out gazed at the nightmare sand she and Pitch sent their way and watched as it slowly turned to golden dreamsand. She looked towards the Guardians and Jack and saw that they were unharmed and when she turned to the children, she was shocked to see that with just their touch, the nightmare sand turned to dreamsand.

"What's going on?" Black Out whispered, watching as black sand turned to gold. She watched the dreamsand make their way into bedroom windows all over town and, even though she couldn't see it, turn Pitch's nightmares back into sweet dreams.

* * *

Back in Pitch's Lair, Tooth's Mini Fairies were gaining strength. Baby Tooth perked up when she felt her body tingling. She no longer felt as tired as she did a few seconds ago. She chirped, turned to look at her wings and was ecstatic to see that her wings began to flutter.

Flying, Baby Tooth looked towards Pitch's Globe and saw the lights begin to glow once more. More and more lights sparked to life and Baby Tooth turned to look at her fellow Mini Fairies. One by one, the Mini Fairies regained their ability to fly and, without a second to lose, they zoomed out of their cages and towards the tooth boxes. Their tiny hands touched the tooth boxes and each and every one of the boxes lit up.

The memories within the boxes returned to the minds of the children all over the world making more lights appear on the Globe.

* * *

In the Bennet home, Sophie woke up from her slumber, unfazed by the fact that she was sleeping on her bedroom floor, and immediately felt drawn towards her window. She looked out the glass and cheered when she saw dreamsand rush past.

"Pretty!" the child exclaimed when she saw a strand of dreamsand turn into a glittering butterfly.

* * *

Suddenly, Black Out felt tired. The more the children turned her nightmares into dreams, the more she felt the exhausted. It felt like she was running for hours and only now the effects were taking its toll on her. Before she knew it, her legs gave way and she slumped to the ground, catching her breath.

"What's… what's going on?" Black Out asked herself, scared at how weak she felt. She felt like someone had punched her in the gut and instead of knocking the wind out of her, they knocked every evil and sinister nightmare in her instead. It wasn't like her mind was suddenly filled with rainbows and unicorns but if the nightmares were knocked out of her again; she wouldn't be too far from those thoughts.

"No one's scared anymore," Jack's voice startled the girl, causing her to jump in her place and glance up at him with wide eyes. "Like I said, Black Out, they're just bad dreams."

Black Out furrowed her brows at Jack and looked to the Guardians. North had pulled out his swords and immediately attacked the first Nightmare he saw. At the same time, Tooth's wings began to flutter again and Jamie and his friends cheered when she zoomed through the air. Tiny Bunny was being chased by a nightmare and he made a move to hide underneath a car. The Nightmare caught him but when it pulled the bunny out, he was back to his regular, Easter Bunny size.

"G'day, mate!" Bunny greeted the Nightmare before he flung his boomerangs and sliced the nightmare in half.

"Bad dream, huh?" Black Out breathed out, defeated. She dug Jack's staff into the ground and used it to bring herself back on her feet. Her legs still felt like gelatin and she stumbled a bit, forcing her weight onto the Winter Spirit's staff for support. The mere action of standing up from the ground brought a sweat to the Nightmare Princess. "Children are starting to believe again…"

"Looks like it," Jack said, stuffing one hand into his hoodie's pocket and held his other one out. Black Out looked at it skeptically before letting out a sigh. Reluctantly, she handed Jack Frost his staff.

Without the staff, Black Out felt her legs giving way once more and she prepared herself to hit the cold, hard ground. To her surprise, she never did. Instead of feeling the pavement's harsh surface, Black Out felt someone wrap his or her arms around her, enveloping her in warmth.

Black Out's eyes widened when she saw dreamsand surrounding her. Looking down at her body, her black clothing was slowly disintegrating of her body. It was soon replaced with a black skirt, tights and boots. On her torso, Black Out saw a woolen sweater with Easter eggs as a design and it was covered with paint and glitter. The transformation was quick and painless and before Black Out could marvel at the golden sand for a little while longer, it disappeared.

"Wait – Ow!" The girl exclaimed, feeling her behind making contact with Burgess' street. The contact sent a wave of pain down her spine and she let out a hiss as she brought her hand back to rub the sore spot.

"_Rina!"_

* * *

**Only one more chapter to go and then the sequel! **

**I REALLY hope I can get it out before Easter.**

**Please wish me luck in getting Chapter 20 up in time!**

**Anyway, I'm going to keep this short and sweet.**

**Hopefully.**

**Thank you all so much for all your support and love! I'm really glad that you guys enjoy this fic!**

**Please tell me what you all thought of this chapter! Your reviews really and truly encourage me to update faster!**

**I'm really sorry for all the typos, grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, awkward sentences and the like. I'm really trying to avoid them!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter**

**and**

**I only own what I own! **


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20:**

Jack pursed his lips, kicked a pebble out of his way and balanced his staff on his shoulders as he walked through the forest for the third time that morning. He had looked all over his village, the pond, the forest and even stopped by the village next to theirs looking for Irina, but it was no use. It was like the girl disappeared from the face of the earth. The thought of his best friend made Jack's chest tighten and he had to stop in his tracks to get a hold of himself.

The boy couldn't believe that Irina would run away from home. It wasn't like her to run off without telling someone where she was going. She only ever disappeared when there was something on her mind. Most of the time, she would head over to the pond and draw her troubles away. If drawing didn't help, she would wade in the water until someone came looking for her. Jack knew if drawing and the pond didn't help, a short nap would do the trick. That's why he always looked for her at the pond first because it was her favorite place to be.

Unfortunately for him, and everyone else looking for her, Irina was not at the pond.

What made Irina run away? Jack wondered to himself as he continued to trudge through the forest. She had looked so happy last night when they were together. It didn't seem like anything was bothering her at that moment. If there was something on her mind, Jack knew that she would tell him. They told each other everything. Whether it was good or bad, there were no secrets between them.

Something happened to her after he dropped her off last night. Jack didn't know what happened, but he was sure that whatever it was, it was something Irina didn't want to face. Hence, disappearing without even telling _him _where she was heading off.

"Irina, where are you – OW!" Jack exclaimed, his hand automatically moving to the top of his head where he was sure a bump would form. Scowling, Jack looked down at the ground to find the object that had hit him. He saw the pebble he was kicking, grass, tree roots, more grass, an acorn, leaves, a stray bunny and… a shoe.

The boy's brows rose at the shoe and he used his staff to bring it closer to him before he bent down to pick it up. The shoe was brown and wet and looked very familiar. After a few seconds of scrutinizing it, Jack realized why the shoe looked so familiar to him.

It was Irina's!

A grin slowly found its way to Jack's lips. Finally, a clue! Maybe Irina was running through the forest and lost her shoe in the process….

Jack stopped his trail of thoughts when he looked at the shoe more closely. An idea suddenly came to his mind. If the shoe _had _fallen off of Irina's foot while she was running, how in the world did it fall from the sky and hit him over the head? Surely, the acorn wasn't heavy enough to cause the amount of pain he felt on his head…

Slowly, Jack looked up at the trees and squinted at each and every one of them until he came across a certain tree whose branch had a distinct figure hiding behind its leaves. The boy walked closer to the tree and his eyes widened when he saw a girl leaning against it, her feet dangling in the air. One foot was missing a shoe – the shoe that was now in Jack's hand.

From where he was standing, Jack saw that the girl was drenched from the rain that poured the previous night. Her long brown hair stuck to her face and the back of her neck while her clothes clung to her body, hugging her. Jack forced the heat rising to his cheeks away for now was not the time to be admiring his best friend. His grip tightened around her shoe the longer her looked at her. She didn't even realize that it had fallen off her foot nor did she realize that Jack was just below her.

Heck, Jack figured she didn't even know that the entire village was looking for her! She had entered the same trance she usually entered when she was drawing or wading in the pond. The boy was so tempted to throw the shoe at her out of frustration, but he stopped himself knowing that if he did, things would not end well for either of them.

"Found you!" Jack called out to Irina in a loud voice he was sure she had to hear. A smirk appeared on his lips when he saw her jerk in surprise.

Irina arms flailed out, almost losing her balance, before she moved them to hug the tree behind her. When she knew that she wasn't in danger of falling, she immediately turned her attention towards the source of the voice that shocked her. She squinted her eyes when she saw Jack's smug look. He held up her shoe and used it to wave at her.

"What are you doing here?" Irina spat out, angry that her friend nearly gave her a heart attack.

"Hmm, funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing," Jack said, swinging his staff over his shoulders once more. "You know you've got the whole village looking for you?"

"What?" Irina's eyes widened with shock. "Why would they be looking for me?"

Jack shrugged. "Well, if someone suddenly disappears, it's sort of common sense to find that someone," He paused. "You should come down and apologize to your mother. She's turning hysterical looking for you."

"I'm not coming down," Irina frowned, folding her arms across her chest and leaned against the tree once more.

At her action, Jack frowned as well. He didn't want to get angry with her. "Come one, Snowflake, fun time is over. Time to get down and join rest of us on earth."

"No."

"Irina!" Jack bellowed, glaring at the stubborn girl. "This is _not _funny. You've got the whole village worried about you. Get down and show them that you're fine!"

"Let me rephrase what I said earlier, Frostbite," Irina snapped, scowling at the angered boy. "When I said I'm _not _coming down I meant I _can't _come down."

"And why _can't _you come down?" Jack asked, his voice mimicking Irina's. The girl was not happy with this.

Irina tried to hold Jack's glare, but, after a few moments passed, she felt herself giving up. She had climbed up the tree at the dead of night, with the rain pouring down on her, and decided to stay up there till morning. Without realizing it, she had fallen asleep and entered a trance when she awoke. Jack was the first voice she heard since she woke up. She didn't mean to be snippy with him, but she was wet and tired and didn't appreciate being scared out of her trance.

"Because I just can't!" Irina cried, her voice cracking. She was getting fed up with all the yelling. "I'm stuck," she mumbled, knowing Jack could hear her from where he was.

"You're _stuck_?"

"Are you deaf?" Irina found her voice once more. She did not like the tone Jack was using on her.

"How can you be stuck?"

"I don't know! I just am!" Irina said, her voice coming close to a shrill. "If you want me to join you down there so bad…help me!"

Jack rolled his eyes and tossed Irina's shoe and his staff aside, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. If they were under a different circumstance, Jack would be laughing his butt of at Irina's state, but, seeing as she worried the entire village and his sister with her disappearance, Jack wasn't in the mood for laughing. In fact, he didn't even want to know why she was stuck in a tree in the first place. The boy didn't like her attitude and wanted her to get out of the tree as soon as possible so that his sister would be at ease once she woke up.

"What are you doing, Frostbite?" Irina asked, seeing Jack holding his arms out.

"What does it look like?" Jack shot back. "Jump. I'm going to catch you."

Irina's eyes widened. "No."

"Irina," Jack began, impatiently.

"No, Jack, I'm not jumping. Just climb up here and get me," Irina violently shook her head from side to side.

"I'm not getting up there, Irina," Jack deadpanned. "Now… JUMP!"

"No!"

"Jump!"

"No, Jack, I'm serious."

"JUMP!"

"AAAHHHH!" Irina screamed as she jumped off the branch and into Jack's arms, pushing them both to the ground.

* * *

"_Rina!"_

Rina's brows shot up at the call of her name and she looked towards the sound of the voice (well, _voices_), seeing Jamie's friends running towards her with their arms out wide. Before she could ask what was going on, Pippa, Cupcake, Caleb, Claude and Monty tackled her to the ground without warning. The air was knocked right out of her and before she could even complain about it, excited chatter from the kids bombarded her. They were all talking at the same time, each trying to beat the other in volume, and Rina was having a hard time keeping up with what they were trying to say.

She was able to catch: _Black Out, Bad Dreams, Dreamsand, Jack's staff, Jamie changed you back! _and_ Pitch is defeated!_

"Wait, wait, wait! Slow down!" Rina giggled out, pushing them off of her so that she could sit up. She looked back and saw Jamie grinning down at her, jumping slightly in his place with excitement. "You changed me back from what exactly?" She asked him, quirking her brow. She had no idea what was going on. She couldn't even remember how she got to where she was.

The last thing she remembered was entering the forest to search for more Easter Eggs. Rina wasn't sure what happened after that.

Instead of answering her question, Jamie enveloped Rina in a hug and laughed into her neck. Rina was confused with what was happening and looked around to see if anyone was going to answer her unasked questions. She saw Jack Frost standing a few feet away from them, a soft smile playing on his lips, and Rina felt a blush rise to her cheeks. The Winter Spirit caught her gaze.

Jack felt his body relax when he saw Rina looking at him the way she always did – wide eyed and with a soft blush decorating her cheeks. Her time as Black Out was short and Jack couldn't be happier when Jamie caught her before she fell to the ground, turning her back into the girl he, and everybody, knew and loved. The Winter Spirit knew he wasn't the nicest person when he "asked" for his staff back, but he couldn't help it. Black Out may have lost all the evil in her at that time, but she still wasn't Rina.

Now that she was back to her green-eyed, seasonal jumper wearing self, Jack felt like he could breath again.

"What's going on?" Rina asked him, bringing the Winter Spirit out of his thoughts, slowly getting back on her feet.

Jamie was still hanging onto her, refusing to let her go. Hearing that she no longer believed in the Guardians and seeing her as Black Out scared him and he wanted to hang on to Rina a little longer, hoping that she wouldn't change back to Black Out the moment he let go of her. The girl struggled to support him but, through some miracle, she was able to lift him up.

Rina trudged through the snow in order to get to Jack, hoping that he would answer her question. The trip to the Winter Spirit was not long, but Jamie's weight was slowing her down. He wasn't as light as he was when he was younger and Rina felt like falling to the floor knowing that she couldn't support him for too long.

After a moment passed, _without _the help of Jack, Rina was able to make her way to the Winter Spirit and stood by his side, watching Jamie's friends stand up as well.

Jamie's friends looked like they were going to follow her, but, before they could even begin to walk towards her, they were immediately distracted by Sandy, who had come back and helped defeat Pitch, when he used his dreamsand to create dinosaurs, stingrays, dolphins, fishes, birds and other animals to go walk and fly and swim around Burgess.

The sight was like some sort of dream and Rina wasn't quite sure that she was awake.

Even Jamie couldn't believe his eyes and he immediately jumped out of Rina's hold to join his friends.

"Welcome back," Jack said to Rina when Jamie left, wrapping his arm around her and giving her a side hug, successfully deepening the blush on her cheeks. "We missed you."

"Missed me?" Rina asked, knitting her brows together. "Where did I go?" She then paused, looking at her surroundings. She saw North, Tooth, Bunny and Sandy together with North's Yetis and elves, Tooth's Mini Fairies and, to her shock, Bunny's Sentinel eggs. Just a few feet away from the group, Rina saw a man snoozing in the snow.

"Actually, no." Rina pursed her lips, interrupting Jack before he could begin to explain. "What happened while I was gone? You know, wherever I disappeared to. I mean, what are the kids doing out of bed? Why are you and the Guardians here? Who is _that _in the snow? What's up with the golden brontosaurus roaming around? What's happening?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jack chuckled out, placing his hand behind Rina's head and forcing her to duck when one of North's toy planes flew by. "Breath, would ya? Just enjoy the celebration!"

"But why are we celebrating?" Rina asked, tilting her head to the side, her face showing her utter confusion.

Jack pursed his lips and leaned against his staff, staring Rina in the eye. They were back to the green color he loved so much. He had not realized how much he missed her. It seemed like _years _since the last time he talked to her when, in reality, it was only a few hours ago when he found her in Pitch's Lair, trapped in a cage. The memory sent an uncomfortable shiver down Jack's spine and he forced the thought away.

"You really don't know?" He asked her slowly as if he were entering dangerous territory with what he was asking.

Rina shook her head, her lips pouting. "I don't even know how I got here," She sighed. "Do you know?"

"Well…" Jack paused, thinking if it was the right time to tell Rina what had happened to her and what she had become. Looking around and seeing everyone so happy that they were able to defeat Pitch and his nightmares and got people believing in the Guardians again, the Winter Spirit figured he could tell Rina another time. No use in dampening the mood around them.

"Let's have a snowball fight." Jack suggested, bending down to collect a ball of snow in his hands.

"What?" Rina's eyes widened. "Jack! Tell me what happened!"

"I'll fill you in with the details later," Jack grinned as he tossed the snowball in the air before throwing it at Jamie, starting a full-blown snowball fight.

The girl pursed her lips when she realized that no one was going to answer any of her questions that night and formed her own snowball when Jamie threw one at Claude. Claude threw his own at an elf and Rina dodged the snowball Pippa threw at her only to be hit by one from Cupcake. Laughing, Rina threw one at Monty and aimed another one at Tooth. She ended up hitting Bunny instead.

"You're all on the naughty list!" Rina suddenly heard North call out. She looked to him and saw that he and Jack were standing a few feet away from them. "Bunny, think fast!" The man then said, smacking Bunnymund in the face with his own snowball.

Rina let out a hearty laugh and was prepared to hit Jack with her own snowball when something landed on her head, sending shivers down her spine. Looking up, she saw Baby Tooth grinning down at her. The Mini Fairy had managed a sneak attack. The girl stuck her tongue out playfully at the Mini Fairy and bent down to form another snowball when she saw something move from the corner of her eye.

The man she saw lying in the snow slowly rose to his feet. She could have sworn she never saw him in her entire life, but the sight of him made Rina uncomfortable. The girl took a step back and watched the man warily, wondering what he was going to do. He didn't look happy in the least.

"You dare have fun in my presence?" The man cried out to everyone. "I am the Boogeyman, and you will fear me!"

"Jamie!" Rina called out when she saw the man swoop down towards the boy and his friends. To her surprise, instead of catching them, the kids ran right through the man as if he were nothing but a hologram. "What?" The girl whispered, confused.

The Guardians approached the man, but, before they were even a foot away from him, the man bolted towards the forest.

"Jack, who was that?" Rina asked, grabbing hold of the sleeve of the Winter Spirit before he could run after the man.

"Just a bad dream, Rina," Jack answered her, moving to hold her hand. "Come on!"

Before Rina could protest, Jack, the Guardians, Jamie and his friends made their way to the pond where they found the "bad dream" and stopped him from getting away. Jack released his hold on Rina's hand and, together with the Guardians, approached the man. Rina stayed with the kids, the elves, the yetis, the eggs and the Mini Fairies.

"Leaving the party so soon?" North asked as the man crashed into his belly.

"You didn't even say good-bye," Tooth pointed out and tossed a coin to the man.

"A quarter?" The man asked, confused.

"Oh my god!" Rina couldn't help but exclaim, her hand immediately shooting up to her mouth when Tooth punched the man in the jaw, _hard. _The man fell back from the force and, to Rina's shock, his tooth slid across the ice. The Tooth Fairy could really pack a punch!

"That's for my fairies," Tooth said, shaking her hand.

The man scowled. "You can't get rid of me! Not forever. There will always be fear."

"So what?" North retorted. "As long as one child believes, we will be here to fight fear!"

"Really?" The man then pointed at the hundreds of Nightmares emerging from the woods. "Then what are they doing here?"

"I don't know," North shrugged, not at all bothered by the Nightmares' presence. "But they can't be _my _Nightmares. I'm not afraid."

Rina squinted at the Nightmares, wondering why they were all suddenly looking at the man dressed in black. She hugged herself and turned her attention back to the man, watching as his expression turned uncomfortable. The girl had no idea who he was yet she felt happy that things weren't going his way.

"Looks like it's _your _fear they smell," Jack said coolly to the man.

Suddenly, high in the sky, the clouds parted and moonlight shone through. Rina watched as the man's eyes grew with terror as the Nightmares moved closer to him. The man let out a terrified yell as he tried to run from the Nightmares, but a cloud of black sand swept him through the forest and, in a blink of an eye, he was gone.

* * *

From everything that has happened, Rina was still having a hard time believing that she was, in fact, awake.

In just a few days, Rina was able to meet her invisible friend, lose her best friend, enter a magical world she soon found out was Bunnymund's Warren, meet her idols that Lyndi had said were just myths, and witness Jack becoming a Guardian. Sure, she was missing some parts of her memory but she didn't mind so much seeing as she would trade all her memories just to see Jack's inauguration again.

Rina was so sure she's never seen Jack happier! She wished she had her camera in hand especially when Jamie hugged Jack before the Winter Spirit's departure. The look of joy on his face was forever etched in Rina's mind.

After the man, who Jamie reveled to be Pitch, disappeared, Jack had taken the Oath. He vowed in front of her, Jamie, the Guardians, Jamie's friends, the Yetis, the elves, the Mini Fairies and the Sentinel eggs that he, Jack Frost, would watch over the children of the world. He vowed that he would guard the children's hopes; wishes and their dreams with his life for the children are all that the Guardians have, all that the Guardians are, and all that the Guardians will ever be.

With Jack's "I will", he had officially become a Guardian,

A small smile formed on Rina's lips as she admired the new charm that hung on her charm bracelet. It was a shimmering snowflake and it was cool to the touch. Rina was sure that even if she were in the hottest place on earth, the snowflake would still send a shiver down her spine. Jack had returned her charm bracelet (with a new addition) before he left on North's sleigh.

The girl had not even realized that it was missing!

"Huh?" Rina jumped in her place when North's Yeti, Phil, grunted. "Oh, right. That's the Bennet home." She pointed to the house standing right beside hers. The children practically dropped dead the moment the Guardians flew away. It was up to her, the Yetis, the Mini Fairies, the elves and the Sentinel eggs to bring the children back to their homes before their parents realized that they were gone.

The elves brought Sophie in through the doggie door before Rina could open the door for them.

"Watch out for Mrs. Bennet," Rina told Phil, letting the Yeti in before she scampered towards her own home.

Rina skidded to a halt and tried to enter her house without waking her mother, knowing full well that her mother would not be happy with her if she found out that she was out of the house without her permission, but was not successful seeing as her mother was waiting for her in the living room, eyes bloodshot as if she stayed up the whole night waiting for her. The girl took a step back when her mother rose from the sofa and enveloped her in spine-breaking hug, sobbing into her jumper.

"Mom?" Rina squeaked out after a few minutes passed. She was not used to her mother sobbing. It was something that did not happen often.

"Where have you been?" Mrs. Snowe bellowed, shaking Rina as if the action would shake the answer right out of her. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? You were not here when I came home nor were you at Lyndi's or at the Bennet's! You left no note! Your cellphone was in your room! I was so scared! You could have been hurt! Kidnapped even!"

"I'm sorry!" Rina said, pushing her mother away from her. All the shaking was making her sick. Running her hand through her hair, Rina took in a breath. How was she going to explain that she was out at the pond with the Guardians? "I… I was at a friend's house. It was an emergency."

"Don't lie to me, Rina," Mrs. Snowe gave her a stern look. "I just said you weren't at Lyndi's or the Bennet's."

"I was at another friend's house, Mom," Rina frowned.

"Really? Who?" Her mother dared. She knew her daughter didn't have many friends her age and she only ever hung out at Lyndi or Jamie's house.

"Jack," Rina paused, cursing herself for saying a boy's name. Her mother would not be pleased. "A – And his sister, Emma."

Mrs. Snowe folded her arms across her chest and looked Rina hard in the eye. Rina kept her mother's gaze. She knew if she were the first to falter, he mother would know that she was lying. A few minutes passed before Mrs. Snowe let out a breath and broke eye contact with her daughter. When she knew her mother wasn't looking, Rina let out a sigh of relief. She was not ready to explain anything to her mom. After all, she wouldn't believe her.

"Next time," Mrs. Snowe began, running a hand through her hair. "Take your phone with you. Please don't scare me like that again."

"Sorry," Rina apologized for both worrying her mom and lying.

"You want breakfast?" Mrs. Snowe offered.

"Actually, mom, I think I'm going to head up to my room and sleep," Rina allowed a yawn to escape her lips. It felt like she hadn't slept for _days. _"Wake me up in an hour or two?"

"Alright," Mrs. Snowe said, turning her back so that she could begin to prepare breakfast for herself. She did not have a chance to eat dinner for she spent her whole night wondering where her daughter was. Hearing Rina running up the staircase, something came to Mrs. Snowe's mind. "Rina, darling?" She called out before she could stop herself.

"Yeah?" Rina responded, slowly making her way down the staircase.

"Have your eyes always been like that?"

"My eyes?" Rina's brows knitted together. "You mean have they always been green? Yeah."

"No, not that," Mrs. Snowe pursed her lips. "I know they're green… it's just that…."

"Mom?" Rina was beginning to get worried. What was wrong with her eyes?

"Have they always had _gold_ specks in them?"

* * *

**AND FROSTED GLASS IS FINISHED!**

**OMERGERD. I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I ACTUALLY FINISHED THIS FIC BEFORE EASTER.**

**I CAN'T BELIEVE I ACTUALLY _FINISHED _THIS FIC.**

**THIS IS, LIKE, A FIRST FOR ME.**

**DO I GET SOME KIND OF MEDAL?**

**OMERGERD. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. **

**IT'S ACTUALLY DONE.**

**...**

**Well, for now... I mean, there is the sequel after all...**

**BUT LET'S FORGET ABOUT THAT FOR A WHILE BECAUSE...**

**CHAPTER 20 IS UP AND FROSTED GLASS IS**

**F.I.N.I.S.H.E.D**

**WHO HAS THE CHAMPAGNE? LET'S CELEBRATE~!**

**I want to thank each and every one of you because if it weren't for you all, Frosted Glass wouldn't be here. It wouldn't be finished and it wouldn't even have a sequel.**

**I'm so thankful for those who took the time to read, review, favorite and follow Frosted Glass!**

**I'm SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOOOOO grateful for you all!**

**Words cannot begin to describe how grateful and thankful I am for all of you!**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

**...**

***takes a deep breath***

**Okay, okay, okay.**

**I just want to clear up some thing there. **

**During the time Black Out changed back to Rina, the Guardians defeated Pitch's Nightmares and Sandy came back and defeated Pitch. **

**I know Black Out's transformation wasn't LONG, but, let's face it, neither was the battle.**

**Just needed to get that out there!**

**...**

**Please tell me what you all thought of this Chapter and the whole fic in General! I really love reading all of your reviews!**

**(If there are some things that might be confusing you, don't be afraid to ask me what's going on! I'll be happy to clear things up!)**

**I apologize for the same things I always apologize for.**

**Stay tuned for the SEQUEL (which would have LOADS of explanations about the flashbacks and other things you lot might be confused about) which should be up soon **

**and**

**I only own what I own!**

**(PS. I LOVE YOU ALL!)**


	21. Sequel

**I would like to inform you all that the sequel to this story is now posted. **

**It goes under the title "Winter Snowstorm" and I hope you'll all check it out!**


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